The Da Vinci Code Part 9

In last night’s reading, I learnt that I was right when I guessed that Teabing is the teacher. I also found out why the Bishop was so fearful and what made him do what he did. I’m now left with another 5 chapters to read. I didn’t manage to finish last night because it was late. I guess I’ve reached the denouement of the story. Robert and Sophie is still being held at gun point by Teabing. I wonder who will come to save them. To be continued….

The Da Vinci Code Part 8

And now back to my reading on the Da Vinci Code. There are so many twists and turns and the story is still twisting and turning. It turns out that Remy, the manservant works for the “Teacher” so he freed Silas. Then both Silas and Remy take Teabing hostage and leave Robert and Sophie at the Templar Church. I’ve a feeling that perhaps that Teabing is the Teacher. Although we haven’t come that part, that guy’s pretty sneaky. Tonight I will continue my reading…..

The Da Vinci Code Part 7

I think I may be reaching the climax of the book anytime. Robert, Sophie and Teabing have finally unlocked the first code but there is another one. The suspense is still lingering. Meanwhile the French police is still tracking them and they will try to intercept their plane when it lands in Britain. The Bishop is now feeling remorseful and he suspects that everything is going wrong but we are not told why. Yep, Dan Brown has a way of keeping the suspense going. It took a few hundred pages to know what was it that made Sophie so upset that she stopped talking to her grandfather. The ritual that she witnessed was finally described and explained last night. That’s as far as I went in the book. To be continued in tonight’s reading….

The Da Vinci Code Part 6

And now back to my reading on the Da Vinci Code. I’m not too sure if its because I’m reading the third Dan Brown novel in a row or it’s the story. I’m beginning to feel exhausted. The story is getting very predictable or its just me trying to get out of the long weekend mood. I’m now past more than half of the book. I’m expecting another twist in the novel. For the first half of the book, I thought the bishop from Opus Dei was a bad guy but now it seems like he has been double crossed. The stuff mentioned about Mary Magdalene and Jesus seemed so bizarre. Is all that really true? The Priory of Sions? Assassinations of this brotherhood by the church in an attempt to hide the truth? After reading the part on Da Vinci’s painting of the last supper, I got to see this painting again. Was there really a woman next to Jesus in the painting? I don’t know. I’ll still remain a Catholic no matter what. The book could be just pure fiction. Maybe there could be a twist of some sort in the story. Perhaps it was just some fanatic responsible for stirring up things. I’ll continue my reading tonight.

The Da Vinci Code Part 5

And now back to my reading on the Da Vinci Code. The police have alerted Interpol of Sophie and Robert and now the watchman at the bank has tipped off Interpol immediately. So that’s the conflict here. But luck is on their side. It turns out that the bank manager is a close friend of Sophie’s grandfather and that he wants to help them escape. He also doesn’t like the bad publicity for the bank. Now what would have happened if he is not on their side? The story would have ended right? I’m now at the part where the bank manager was kind enough to smuggle them out of the bank and through a road block and away from the police. Interesting….let’s see how the story progresses.

The Da Vinci Code Part 4

Robert and Sophie are still on the run. They’ve managed to steal a cab and are now heading straight to a bank which the clue had been pointing to. We’ve no idea what will come up next but they’ve been lucky enough to dodge the police. What an interesting bank with an interesting service for its clients. Hmmmm….

The Da Vinci Code Part 3

Last night I read about 5 or 6 more chapters. The chase is still ongoing. Both Sophie and Robert are still running away from the French Police and the Police seem smart enough to know their every move. We get a few pages explaining the Knight Templar and the Holy Grail. This guy’s really detailed. … Let’s see how the story progresses. I have a feeling they have be able to dodge the police long enough to solve the mystery. If they get caught the story wouldn’t be able to progress. Also, the writer seems to use race against time as a factor to hold the tension in the story. That’s a good one. Ok, I’ll stop here. Till my next review.

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The Da Vinci Code Part 2

Last night as I continued to read the book, I learnt that Robert was actually a murder suspect even though he was called down to the murder scene. Fortunately for him, a beautiful character by the name of Sophie comes to his rescue. Hey, every story has a beautiful character working on his side. Sophie is a cryptographer and she works as an agent for the police. It also turns out that she is the granddaughter of the curator and she thinks that the message left behind by the curator was intended for her.  However, the French police had misunderstood the whole message and thinks that Robert Langdon is the murder suspect. So Sophie saves him by tricking the police into thinking that he has escaped from the museum. Meanwhile, Robert has to get to the US embassy before they return if he wants to be protected by his government. However, he is distracted by the mysterious message left behind by the curator and turns back to find Sophie again.  And miles away, the French police just realized that they have been tricked. Oh,oh. What is going to happen? Will he get away in time? I’ll only find out when I pick the book up again.

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The Da Vinci Code Part 1

Actually I didn’t want to read this book because I know the story would be offensive to the Catholic Church. However, this book is now my current read because I had found the first 2 Dan Brown novels very intriguing. In fact as I read the first few chapters, I realized he was probably writing about a fictional corrupted character from the church, who was doing something that is not right. Those of my friends who read this book, misunderstood and thought that all Catholics were like this character…hmmm…so it was a matter of perspective.

Anyway back to the review, the first few chapters of this book opened very much the same way has how Angels and Demons and The Lost Symbols did. I’m beginning to think that perhaps Dan Brown has a certain fixed ‘formula’ for all his stories. Well so far I’ve only read stories where Robert Langdon is the protagonist.   First an innocent character is murdered. (Again!). And Dan Brown is rudely awakened in the wee hours of the morning by an authority to lend his expertise on symbols left behind by the dead person, a curator in this case.  Each chapter has a cliff hanger and yes, the story has been interesting so far. I stopped at the part where he is at the murder scene giving his views on the message left behind by the curator. Let’s see how the story progresses.

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Angels And Demons Part 11

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons .

Last night I finally finished reading the book. What a bizarre ending. Dan Brown’s a good writer but I don’t like the stuff mentioned about the Catholic Church. I hope other readers out there are able to recognize that some of it is really fiction. The story was compelling enough to make me hang on and turn every page. What is so amazing is his ability to keep a story going and going. He knows how to spin a story to make you believe it’s A but then he leads you to B instead. Sometimes C will just jump out and surprise you. Good guys are mistaken for bad guys and vice versa. To summarize, there are a few interlinking stories that keeps the story moving. The first act is the murder of the physicist/priest and the missing canister containing the antimatter. The second act is the race against time to save the four missing cardinals and Vittoria. The third act is on the antimatter and the bizarre revelation. If I could break the story down further and mind map the plot, the map would be a complicated web.

I’m going to get hold of the Da Vinci Code soon. Watch out for my review if you’re a fan of Dan Brown. Included in my reading list for this year are The Confession by John Grisham, The Girl who kicked the hornet’s nest and the rest of the series. Coming soon at a blog near you…..

Angels And Demons Part 10

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons .

I was feeling tired last night but nevertheless, I spent one and half hours reading the next few chapters of the book. I thought I would be able to finish the book by last night but I was wrong. The story kept going and going. Robert made it back to the Vatican to interrupt a confrontation between the director of CERN and the Camerlengo. The whole thing didn’t look right. I know the writer has something else in store for his readers at this point in the story but he was smart enough to delay it in order to keep the story going. Then the camerlengo went into some bizarre behavior as a team of people followed him a few feet underground and then up into the air on a helicopter. It was all so bizarre and poor Robert followed the camerlengo all the way thinking he was going to dispose the antimatter in a barren place. He was wrong. The whole thing suddenly seemed like a suicide mission but I know that the main character will not die in the story. In the Lost symbol, we were also made to believe that Robert had died too. I stopped at the part when Robert did the unthinkable by jumping out of a helicopter without any parachute. Yep. I’ll only find out tonight how Robert will survive the fall back to earth. Will I finally get to the end of the book or will there be another twist bringing the story to another turn? To be continued in my next review.

Angels And Demons Part 9

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons .

Throughout the weekend, I only managed to read a few chapters because I was busy. It seems like we’re having one climax after another in the story. Robert didn’t manage to save any of the cardinals and they all died pitifully. The last one was branded with the word ‘Water’. Just when I thought I had reached the climax of the story, there is a new development in the story. There is going to be another murder. As at this point in the story, we know that somebody known as ‘The eleventh hour Samaritan’ is coming to see the camerlengo and this person is going to kill and brand the camerlengo. According to the killer of the 4 cardinals, this person is the leader of the illuminati and this person is going to kill the camerlengo himself and Robert has no way of stopping him. Then in the next scene, we see the director of CERN approaching the camerlengo’s office. Ok, I see a parallel line to the Lost Symbol here. I have a feeling that there is a twist waiting for us in the story. It is going to shock us I know it will. Unfortunately, I was too tired to go on reading so I had to stop. I’ll find out tonight when I get back to the reading.

Angels And Demons Part 8

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons .

Last night, I believe that I have finally come to the climax of the story. When both Robert and Vittoria got to the third church, the killer is waiting for them and they are all put in a difficult situation. (Yeah, this always happens in every story). In any good story, the writer will take away all the hopes of the protagonists and leave them in a vulnerable state. The leader of the Swiss Guard will be found dead on the floor which means they have no more backup. Then the killer takes Vittoria hostage. Yikes. Then Robert finds the third Cardinal facing death. He wants to help the cardinal but the killer appears and Robert has to hide and try to save himself first. Goodness what a whole lot of bad luck for them but without this bad luck, the story wouldn’t go well right? Back to the story, the poor cardinal dies and Robert is stuck in a pile of rubble. And the killer takes Vittoria away to the 4th Church where he will proceed to kill the last cardinal and harm Vittoria. Oh I forgot to mention that the third Cardinal was branded with the element Fire and they are now left with the last element Water. Robert is now on his own. He has to be careful not to make any calls through the walkie talkie because there are insiders who are working for the illuminati. I stopped at the part where Robert steals a car to race to the fourth church to save Vittoria and the last cardinal. All that took about 10 chapters of the book. I can’t wait to continue reading tonight.

Angels And Demons Part 7

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons .

In last night’s reading of the book, Robert Langdon is still busy searching for the clue to the next place that the killer will strike. He is almost killed in the archives room when the oxygen and lights of the room were shut off but he survived. Meanwhile Vittoria is taken to see the body of the pope and she confirms that he was indeed poisoned. I stopped at the part where they are heading for the third church where the killer will strike. Thanks to the BBC news reporter, the killer now recognizes both Robert Langdon and Vittoria. He is waiting for them and has been instructed to kill them. I know they will definitely get out of this one because the good guys will eventually win. But since there is about a quarter of the book to go, I know that the killer will be allowed to flex his muscles. The climax of the story is almost here I guess. To be continued after my next reading tonight…

Angels And Demons Part 6

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons . Last night I read another 11 or 12 chapters of the book. Robert Langdon and his team managed to get to the second place in time but the place was too crowded. They didn’t spot the killer anywhere but they found the body of the second cardinal branded with the word “Air”. To make it worse, the BBC reporter had filmed the whole thing and released the footage to the media. I stopped at the part where Robert is back at the archives trying to figure out where is the next place that the killer is due to strike. Meanwhile, the rest of the team learned from the news that the pope did not die of a stroke but was poisoned by the illuminati and since only insiders are familiar with his medication, the person responsible is someone on the inside. I’m expecting a twist in the story. The character that we think is the most innocent will most likely the person responsible. So that’s where I stopped in the book so far. Till my next reading session….

Angels And Demons Part 5

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons . Last night I read another 10 more chapters of the book. The suspense was still hanging as we followed Robert Langdon and Vittoria in a race to stop the killer from executing the first cardinal. So it turned out that his guess of the first place was a mistake and they had less than 10 minutes to get to the right place which was a church that was under renovation. Well… they didn’t make it in time. The first cardinal was found dead and his body was branded with the first element “Earth”. Somehow I expected that they have to be late because there were another 300 more pages to the end of the story. To add more challenge to the story, a BBC reporter and his videographer had received a hot tip from the killer and they had followed and filmed the swish guards surrounding the place and they had a curious view of Robert climbing up a tall structure looking out in the distance. There’s no doubt that the news crew would be following Robert and the Swiss guards around. Would that alert the killer and put their lives in danger? Hmmm… Anyway, last night I stopped at the part where they sort of figured out where the second place of murder will take place. Will it be the right guess this time round? I’ll only find out tonight as I read further. To be continued in the next review…

Angels And Demons Part 4

And now back to my reading on Angels And Demons . The story has now come to the part where you have to solve a mystery and the answer will in turn will point to another mystery. Perhaps this is another good technique for keeping a story going with some added suspense. Something to learn from Dan Brown in story writing. Both Langdon and Vittoria first have to solve a mathematical code which will point to a trail art pieces. These art pieces will hopefully lead to the four places where the four kidnapped cardinals will be executed. If he can get there in time, he would be able to capture the killer and find where the canister containing the antimatter is located. The clock is ticking and the tension is there. During the weekend I read up to the part where Langdon and Vittoria are standing at the very first place where the killer will strike. Langdon has doubts and hope that he had solved the puzzle correctly otherwise they would have wasted the time of a group of Swiss Guards who should be elsewhere. They had earlier spent a long time trying to solve the puzzle on locating the first place. Did Langdon guess correctly? That’s where I stopped and will only find out tonight when I continue to read the book.

ANGELS AND DEMONS PART 3

Last night I read up to Chapter 30 of Angels & Demons . As I progressed through the story last night, I learn about the secret experiment that Vittoria and her father the priest/physicist were working on. They had been keeping it under the wraps for several months because they had only planned to reveal their work a few months later. They’ve recreated the big bang on a smaller scale. I recall that in real life, someone did really recreate the big bang on the news. I can’t remember whom. It didn’t matter much to me back then. Anyway, in this story, the scientists have created matter and anti-matter from the big bang. The energy produced by antimatter is so powerful that it can power up a town with electricity. However, if this antimatter falls in the wrong hands, it becomes a deadly weapon. Hmm. So is this fiction or fact? Gee…I don’t know but it is all very intriguing. Back to the story. The two scientists had created some anti-matter large enough to cause an explosion. They had stored it in their lab’s basement. The secret is only known to the 2 scientists but somehow, somebody knew about this anti-matter and murdered the priest/physicist to steal this antimatter. I stopped at the part where the director of CERN receives a call from some source that we still don’t know of at this point in the story. The missing canister containing the antimatter is in Rome. They have 24 hours to get to this canister before terrible things happen. (This is another good technique used by the writer. When the clock is ticking, the tension builds up. You can bet that the story will reach its climax at the point when the 24 hours is almost up by a few minutes) Then the director collapses because he didn’t take his medication. (He is ill and wheel chair bound). He then beckons to David Langdon and Vittoria to head to Rome before he is taken away by the paramedics. Good one there. With little information and a young Scientist, David Langdon, a university professor has to save Rome, just like that. Yep, that’s where I stopped. Every chapter has a cliffhanger without fail. Till the next intermittent book review…

ANGELS AND DEMONS PART 2

Last night, I read another 9 chapters of Angels And Demons . The story got more and more bizarre and the writer kept me hanging on to each page. First I learnt that the murdered victim who is a physicist has a daughter. Then when I found out that he is also Catholic Priest, it didn’t make sense. But a couple of pages later, it slowly began to make sense. The catholic priest had adopted a girl from a home. (is that possible in real life?) He then left the monastery to study physics which later landed him a job with CERN. (Can a person be a priest and a physicist at the same time?) Ok…interesting way of getting a reader’s attention. I’m skeptical of the story of the illuminati and the Catholic Church. Please tell me that it’s all fiction. Would the church really torture scientists because they chose a scientific theory over God? Come on! Something tells me that The Da Vinci Code is equally bizarre to Angels and Demons. In the Lost Symbol, we had a severed hand of a freemason member. In Angels an Demons, there is …. a stolen eye. Yucks. We are not told of why the eye is significant until a few pages later. (another hook). Yucks!!! Yucks! I’m not going to say why here. Puke! Anyway, that’s where I stopped last night. I can’t wait to continue reading tonight. Till the next review.

ANGELS AND DEMONS BY DAN BROWN PART 1

Angels And Demons is the second Dan Brown book that I’m now reading. So far I’ve only read 9 chapters last night. The opening chapters seemed very similar to the lost symbol. David Langdon is once again rudely awaken in the wee hours of the morning by a caller who needs him to decipher a symbol for him. This time instead of a hand, we have a body of a physicist who has a symbol carved on the front of his body while is head is twisted the wrong way to the back. It is pretty gross. David is flown to CERN, a research facility located in Geneva, Switzerland from American in just one hour. It took 9 chapters for him to leave his home, fly in the superfast jet and get to the research facility. We’re about to view the body in the next chapter (I think…or will the writer still keep the suspense going?) but I was too tired to read further. The usual suspense element is there (boy, he’s good at that). Dan Brown is keeping me guessing and guessing. I will continue reading tonight again.