Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Read the reviews on Angels & Demons on Amazon and they all agree regardless of how many stars they assigned: It’s an exciting page turner with little redeeming value. This is not a book that makes you go “hmmmm” but it’s a book that makes you keep reading. Almost 500 pages and I think I read it in three days, so there you go.
As far as plausibility, it seemed no better or worse than The DaVinici Code. I’m not a religious person so I’m able to look at the religious details the same way I would if they were medical details. As long as I can follow the point, I’ll suspend disbelief with regard to the accuracy.
I did guess “whodunnit” almost immediately but Dan Brown got me mixed up enough to doubt myself. That’s really the leading characteristic of a good mystery writer. The solution has got to plausibly match the clues presented but can’t be obvious. One good way to do that is to arouse suspicion early and then divert it. Once the reader has considered and dismissed a suspect, the author is freer to play with his mind.