Inferno by Dan BrownMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What made me continue reading Dan Brown’s latest offering, Inferno, which is the 4th book in his Robert Langdon Series???
I had to seriously try to get this image of Langdon from my head (after watching the Da Vinci Code movie, which I absolutely HATED….mainly because of casting Tom Hanks as the hero…talk about BAD BAD casting…..i had to work really hard at getting to like Langdon in the next books after my encounter with TH..)
And then….“Haven’t I read this story before?” I t asked myself on numerous occasions, as I continued turning page after page…yes, I had to continue even when I questioned my reason for doing so. You see, it was like I was reading Da Vinci Code or perhaps Angels and Demons again, with a couple of minor changes!!!!!!
The hero – out to save the world….this time he’s running around in Florence
and a teeny bit in Istanbul, using his solving puzzles and riddles talent to save humankind.The heroine – of course there has to be one!!! This time it’s a young, very smart..in fact a genius prodigy…doctor, who just manages to save the hero from being killed by an assassin and then proceeds to keep up with the hero as he unravels the mysteries that will get them both to save the world. It’s a good thing that she’s a doctor…because poor hero has amnesia when he comes to in a hospital
” and needs the heroine’s help to get out and go on the run from the killers and bad guys and even the good ones…..
The plot – this time we have an ego-manic who’s bent in wiping out the world’s population..or at least half of it because there’s too many people in this world, which will not be able to survive with the ever growing numbers….right…we all know this…!!! The hero and heroine now have to use Dante’s Inferno – yes that famous book!!!!...
as the basis to solving all those cryptic poems, riddles and puzzles that are facing them. I even learnt something new…..neo- eugenics…. The proposers of ways to improve human beings, especially by selective breeding. These are the so called fanatics that the hero is trying to stop.!!!Of course, it felt like a formula of a book I’d read before….
But hey..did that stop me??? …No way…. the pages just kept flipping over and over…..whilst I was taken on an incredible tour of the places that the hero goes to…..I learnt about the Divine Comedy, the story of David (yes…that famous statue in Florence), the Renaissance art and famous names, about the piazzas, the gardens…oh I did so enjoy a tour guide of Florence and Istanbul!
I followed Langdon’s quest as he discovered clues and revelations along the way……what amazes me is how the author still managed to surprise me so many times. Just when I thought I knew the answer or who the bad guys were…bam……..SO WRONG….so another surprise...another twist.
So, I continued on this fast paced journey….rather trip because the story happens over a day or two…..ooh and does a LOT happen in that short time.
I did think that the ending was a bit “naff”, (view spoiler) which kind of left me thinking…..YES….there’s another movie coming out soon about Robert Langdon’s latest adventure….JUST PLEASE PLEASE….don’t cast Tom Hanks in it………he’s too old, too dull and just too damn BORING...
and then maybe, just maybe I might brave myself to go and see it!!!
Okay, so I enjoyed reading this latest offering by Dan Brown….but did I love it???? No….I had Tom Hanks on my brain as I turned the pages……….but I have to be honest ….I did love all the info on the history of Florence/Istanbul and it even made me take out my copy of Dante’s Inferno!!!!!! And I liked the book cover!!!!
I can recommend this book if you liked the others in this series.
View all my reviews
After the pinnacle Dan Brown reached with Angels and Demons, it has sadly been a downhill slide ever since. Apart from the look and feel, this book contains little else.
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