Review: Inferno

Inferno by Dan Brown

From the Publisher…

In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol,
Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this
riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his
highest-stakes novel to date.
In the heart of Italy,
Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing
world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary
masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

Against this
backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an
ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret
passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic
poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . .
before the world is irrevocably altered.

From Me…

Like many of Dan Brown’s books, the plot to this one is explained to the reader in bits and pieces, slowly through the book. Normally I love this method. It was one of the reasons that the DaVinci Code was so good.  There was also a great plot, with amazing art, which created a great world that the reader could escape into.  I think that’s what was missing from Inferno. 

From my trip to Florence

In the book, there was a great world for the reader, but that world became a place that I wouldn’t want to be.  Ironically, Dan Brown brought to light one of the fatal flaws of human nature by creating a fatal flaw in his book – he ruined my ability to escape.  You won’t know what I am talking about until you read this book.  
Please don’t get me wrong, this was a good book.  I enjoyed reading parts of it, especially the first half, which happens to be set in Florence.  I am biased about Florence, as I am having a love affair with Florence, and it’s been going on since 2010. I should probably tell my husband…

Anyway, compared to Dan Brown’s other books, this one is not as good, which is why I am giving it a 3, but still entirely readable.  Especially if you like Italian scenery.