DAN BROWN'S INFERNO

Dan Brown's most celebrated character Robert Langdon is back with “Inferno” -- the fourth installation of the series. Despite an interesting story-line, “Inferno” was not as strong as the first two novels with the same protagonist.
Robert Langdon wakes up at a hospital in Florence but has no recollection of how he got there when he was supposed to be conducting his classes at Harvard. Before he can process what he was doing there, he discovers that his life is being threatened by a bunch of people who are apparently as fascinated about Dante's “The Divine Comedy” as Langdon himself. With the beautiful Dr. Sienna Brooks as his cohort, Langdon then starts his journey through museums, palaces, cathedrals and hidden passageways using his expertise as a symbolist to solve an incessant number of puzzles that would be able to save the world. Everything changes as the story nears ending, and keeps the readers turning pages. The ending itself, however, did not live up to the hype promised all throughout the novel; much ado about nothing.
“Inferno” is well written and the plot moves very fast, incorporating archaeological facts and subtle humour. Brown employs a plethora of red herrings to deceive the readers but connects the dots fairly well. The final twists were uncalled for, yet many small parts of the novel were predictable to any reader acquainted with Brown's previous books. As usual, the novel consisted of loads of subsidiary historical information that got tiresome soon. Moreover, the puzzles were such that any art historian would be able to solve them upon careful observation, and the protagonist was not a necessity for them.
Nonetheless, “Inferno” would still be a good read for thrill-seekers. With Dan Brown highlighting the world population problem and associating the World Health Organisation in his writing, the novel sheds light on issues that most laypeople are unaware of. “Inferno” is Dan Brown's way of appreciating Dante and the works inspired by “The Divine Comedy” throughout the ages.
Having been an old fan of Dan Brown, I read the book as early as I could, but I was rather disappointed. This is not the sort of novel that I can vouch for and certainly not comparable to “The Da Vinci Code” or “Angels and Demons”, but if you're looking for some leisurely reading, pick this book up.