Angles and Demons

When a leading scientist at C.E.R.N is brutally murdered with the symbol

Try looking at the symbol upside down

branded across his chest, renowned symbologist Prof Robert Langdon is called in to investigate. It is hard to believe that a centuries old brotherhood is still in existence, deep underground. Illuminati, the enlightened was formed in the 16th century among the intellects of the era who were tortured and hindered by the Vatican, because their findings challenged the teachings of the Catholic church. Its most known member being Galileo.

When it's discovered that CERN's scientist's latest creation an 'antimatter' canister has been stolen, and is now ticking away like a time bomb somewhere deep inside the Vatican city, Langdon and Vittoria Vetta, a CERN scientist involved in the project rushes down to the Vatican to try and find the canister along with the missing cardinals that had gone missing just before the Vatican conclave.

The story is one filled with mystery, puzzles, riddles that need to be solved, clues and symbols, and intrigue. Dan Brown has done an excellent job at keeping the reader glued and in suspense with unexpected twists through to the end.

However the framework is pretty much the same as that of "The Da Vinci Code". Robert Langdon, a female accomplice, an ancient brotherhood, Vatican secrets, anagrams and ambigramm, solving puzzles for survival, brutal killings, the one person that is trusted in saving the day turning out to be the mastermind behind the brotherhood, and eventually a happy ending.

However it is understandable why Da Vinci Code made a bigger impact than Angles and Demons. With the story unfolding in one of the world's leading physics research institutions with particle physics terminology and concepts, it is easy for a lay person to lose interest in the story.

For those of you who prefer the big screen to the paperback, Angles and Demons the film is set to be released in the coming months. However as was the case with The Da Vinci code, I believe this will also be a disappointment. There is so much information and action packed in to each and every page of the 600+ page book, that it is next to impossible to cram it into a 2 hour audio-visual.