Florence: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.
A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city. Only Langdon's knowledge of the hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.
With only a few lines from Dante's Inferno to guide them, they must decipher a sequence of codes buried deep within some of the Renaissance's most celebrated artworks to find the answers to a puzzle which may, or may not, help them save the world from a terrifying threat . . .
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(@TransworldBooks, 14 May 2013, 578 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I've recently re-discovered the author and have made it my mission to read his back catalogue. I love the movie version so I thought I knew what to expect from the book. Parts of the book veer in a quite different direction from the film so I didn't expect this. I preferred the direction events take in the book. They were more satisfactory. I loved this book. I really enjoyed the time I spent with Langdon. In my head I saw Tom Hanks who played him in the movie which amused me somewhat. This isn't a stunning work of literary brilliance. It's just a great thriller, intense, fast-paced, full of twists and turns and well-written characters. I loved all of the references to The Divine Comedy which I found insightful and fascinating.
