Genre: Fiction—Thriller
Completed: 7 October 2013
Summary & Review:
Harvard art historian Robert Langdon wakes up in a hospital in Florence with no memory of how he was injured or even why he was in Florence at all. But, after a near deadly attack on him in the hospital, Langdon is forced into an alliance with a young doctor named Sienna to figure out why he is being pursued. As they traipse across the historic city, they begin to realize that a brilliant scientist—with a serious Dante obsession—has hidden a plague with the hopes of stemming the ever-growing population of the planet. Following clues (inexplicably) left behind by the madman, Langdon travels down into Dante’s Inferno to try and prevent catastrophe.
I could not believe it when I realized what the plot was to this book. Another plague-to-kill-off-all-the-bad-humans plot? I had literally just finished a book with that plot (See Rainbow Six (#272)). Dear Dan Brown, Clancy beat you to this plot by a good fifteen years. Not only that, but Clancy’s version was better. Much better. Not only is Brown’s attempt at suspense annoying (I complained about this in my review of The Lost Symbol (#129), but the plot was so nonsensical. If this madman wanted to unleash his plague, why would he leave clues for people to be able to find where he hid it? Also, Brown seems to be really stretching here to try an incorporate Dante into the plot at all. In previous Robert Langdon novels, historical things like the Illuminati or the Holy Grail were integral parts of the plot. Here though, Dante’s Inferno was included for no apparent reason other than to try and get to people to buy the book based on the same draw that Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons had, i.e. a peek into dark mysteries.
Rating: 3.5
A 3.5? That's pretty harsh! I give it a solid 5 :)
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