Fiction Review: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. The movie came out in May and I thought I'd read the book prior to seeing the movie. I haven't seen the movie as of this writing though I predict that as usual it won't be better than the book. Exception: Jaws - wonderful movie, book was a mess of extraneous subplots - I just want a big shark destroying everything in its path - that is it.
On that level Angels & Demons doesn't disappoint - here the Big Shark is The Illuminati - granddaddy of all secret societies. And a couple of twists kept me engrossed throughout the book. Although I personally enjoyed The Da Vinci Code more, I can recommend Angels & Demons. If you liked The Da Vinci Code then you'll like Angels & Demons. It certainly isn't great literature but it is well-plotted and has some good cat-and-mouse moments.
The characters are pretty one-dimensional but that is OK for this type of book. I also find myself simultaneously attracted and repulsed by Brown's use of the overly omniscient narrator. He has a habit of ending a chapter with a main character making a declarative statement - and then the narrator chimes in with - "Little did he know how right (or wrong) he was." Or some variation thereof that allows the reader a peek ahead to future events - though with imperfect information such that the reader is intentionally misdirected. Used judiciously it is an effective hook, but after awhile it got old.
But anyway it is a breezy read, and a good break from my failed attempts at reading weighty tomes (Moby Dick, Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, etc.).
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