"Angels and Demons"

I had this book sitting on my desk at work and one of my coworkers saw it and said, "Geeze, that's an old book". I laughed and said, "Yea, but it's SO good!" With all of the new books coming out all the time, sometimes we forget that there are already a lot of really good books out there. So, even though "Angels and Demons", by Dan Brown, is 'old', I want to make sure you know about it because it's a good one.

This is actually the first book of a series that follows the character of Robert Langdon, who is a well known symbologist at Harvard. When it comes to symbolism, Langdon is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world. Which is why, when a man turns up dead with an ancient symbol branded into his chest, Langdon is the first person called to the scene. He gets whisked away on a private jet to a Swiss research facility where he discovers more than he could have ever dreamed of. Not only is the dead guy branded with an ancient symbol that is so secret that most people don't believe it exists, but he was also a scientist that had just made a discovery that would completely change the world.

This world-changing work was stolen from his lab however, so Langdon travels to Rome to track it down. He has the brilliant and beautiful Vittoria Vetra (the dead scientist's daughter) in tow. The two of them get thrown into a whirlwind of uncontrollable events as they try to locate the device while also catching the killer. To make matters worse, the killer has kidnapped 4 cardinals and has threatened to kill one of them every hour. Landon and Vittoria have to translate an old map written in code that will lead them to the next murder location. They break laws, visit forbidden libraries and crypts, and uncover one of the best kept secrets on earth: the Illuminati lair.

This book will keep you on your toes the entire time! Dan Brown has obviously done his research and the details he adds truly makes his books come to life. The coolest part is that while the story is fiction, all of the places and details are factual! This is a thriller at it's best, and you feel like you are right there running through the churches of Rome with the characters. It's a very educated book, so it might not hold the attention of young readers, plus the material is probably pg-13 so I would keep this one for older readers. It does describe some of the bodies, and there is a part where the killer visits a high-class whore house, but it doesn't give any details. Nothing that I would consider innappropriate, but you are the best judge of that. It is a thick one too, so don't plan on only giving this book a day or two. It will take a little longer than that to get through. It is time well spent in my opinion. Check it out!  Oh, and I will have the next books in the series on here soon!