Conspiracy Redux: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

By Jonathan Berohn

Like any good publisher, Pocket books knows when it's got a good thing going, so it should come as no surprise that they are pushing a reissue of best-selling author Dan Brown's Angels & Demons.  Dan Brown, of course, also penned the run-away hit The Da Vinci Code.  In Angels & Demons, we are introduced to Brown's hero, Harvard professor Robert Langdon, as he unravels his first religious conspiracy-this time in the Vatican itself.

The Story

On one hand, you have to appreciate Brown's boldness.  He certainly lives, eats and breathes the old maxim "go big or stay home."  True to form, Brown pulls no punches in Angels & Demons.  As with The Da Vinci Code, Brown once again (if you can say again about an earlier book) tells a compelling tale.

In this version of his religious conspiracy theory tale, the Catholic Church is under attack by an ancient satanic cult-the Illuminati.

To get to the bottom of this threat, Langdon (and his love interest/side kick) must not only penetrate the secrets of the group, but they have to solve several riddles left by none other than Galileo.

The action, as Brown's readers have come to expect, is non-stop and fast paced, and the puzzles his characters face are truly imaginative.  The extra texture that the art and churches of Rome adds to his book also helps it come alive.

The Absurdities

Unfortunately, none of this can overcome the ridiculous ending that Brown conjures up.  Readers of the Da Vinci Code are familiar with Brown's trouble in coming up with a satisfactory ending.  Where he opted for let down in the Da Vinci Code, in Angels & Demons he opts for the unabashedly preposterous.

Not only does he essentially do away with the laws of physics in his climactic scene, but the catalogue of absurd coincidences that take place would fill easily fill one of the Vatican vaults that hold the secrets Professor Langdon is after.  Once again, Brown provides an interesting diversion.  If you want substance and satisfaction, however, you'll need to keep looking.