Granted, my family owns this both in print and as an audio book- so I can't deny the entertainment I gather from this sad excuse for a detective novel on a regular basis- but I still refuse to call it a good book in any respectable sense of the word.

Not unlike The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons is made up of archetypal characters thrown into unfathomably implausible situations in which facts tend to be sort of twisted or thrown aside for the sake of a good, pulpy read. Sure, our hero falls two miles from a helicopter with nothing but a tarp as a parachute, landing in a river thanks to his "diver's body," and yes, he uses his Mickey Mouse watch to light the way in the subteranneous vaults underneath the Vatican, but I was laughing from page to page and really did enjoy mocking Brown's attempts at dramatic pause. Granted, I'm not sure that that's the reception he was going for in writing this but to each their own.

In summary, I defy you to resist a book that ends with the line: "You've never been to bed with a yoga master, have you?"

Classy.
-C