<P><B>From the #1 </B><I><B>New York Times </B></i><B>bestselling author of <I>The Da Vinci Code </i></B><B>comes the book that started it all—the first explosive adventure for world-renowned symbologist Robert Langdon.<P></B>World-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a cryptic symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist. What he discovers is unimaginable: a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church by a centuriesold underground organization—the Illuminati. Desperate to save the Vatican from a powerful time bomb, Langdon joins forces in Rome with the beautiful and mysterious scientist Vittoria Vetra. Together they embark on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and the most secretive vault on earth…the longforgotten Illuminati lair. Angels & Demons is soon to be a major motion picture from Sony Pictures—starring Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, and Ayelet Zurer, and directed by Ron Howard.