Angels and Demons 469-610 (end)

Well I finally reached the end and this is how it went: After viewing Kohler's tape Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the camerlengo; Shortly before the beginning of the novel, the Pope met with Leonardo Vetra who believed that anti-matter was capable of establishing a link between Man and God. Vetra's beliefs caused great discomfort to the camerlengo. While discussing Vetra, the pope reveals that his support is due to science having given him a son. Without waiting to hear the explanation and horrified that the Pope appeared to have broken his vow of chastity, the camerlengo plots to "rectify" the situation. He poisoned the pope and, under the guise of an Illuminati master, he recruited the assassin, to kill Vetra, steal the antimatter, and kidnap and murder the Preferiti. The Camerlengo planted the antimatter in St. Peter's in order to be seen as the savior of Christendom. The Illuminati "involvement" was merely a plot engineered by the camerlengo to cover his own plans. It is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca himself was the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Overcome with guilt Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square.


I thought this ending was fair, but surprising at the same time. Even though there is a number of cultural inaccuracies dealing with the Catholic faith that obviously bother me, I still think Dan Brown, if nothing else, does a great job of creating an entertaining book full of suspense and thrill. I would recommend this book to just about anyone looking for an entertaining book but does not get bothered by the religious contradictions in the book.