Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Have to agree with many of the posters here. Too many cliched characters: the diminutive Japanese CIA lady straight out of "The Incredibles"; the tatooed protagonist just the albino from DVC in reverse; the evil Turkish prison guard from "Midnight Express," the wise religious man who sees with his hands...I could go on and on. Forget the so-called science. You can see the plot twists coming a mile away. Is there ANYONE who didn't know the true identity of the villain immediately? Or the location where it would all end? Or what was inside the box Langdon was given? But I think when it got to the "drowning" scene, I lost it completely. I simply could not believe he would re-create a scene from a 20-year-old movie. What hasn't been mentioned here is the absolute idiocy of the characters' behavior. A brilliant scientist lets a stranger into her secret lab because she receives a TEXT message? Who wouldn't question that? By her own admission, her brother didn't even know how to text! The use of phone messages throughout is maddening. A major CIA director hears someone saying, "I'll be there in 20 minutes" and never questions that he might be lying? Langdon flies off at a moment's notice without any confirmation that the person he's speaking to represents the person he says he does? And SURE, I'll bring along this sacred thing that I've been told to keep hidden for years just because you say so! DB keeps using this same device over and over and it simply defies all sense. "Oh, well, this person says he's my brother's doctor--my brother who's been MISSING--so, sure, I'll just run right over there and have a chat with him." In a private home that looks nothing like a doctor's office. "Sure, I'll have some tea!" And why on EARTH would a wealthy and powerful man like Peter Solomon not have some kind of security around to begin with? Would the guard at his building really let a limousine pass through without seeing who was in the back seat? No video cameras anywhere to capture him carrying out an unconscious man? Too much...just, too much. Plus the repetition. I wish someone would count the number of times Langdon says something like, "But the blah-blah is just blah-blah," only to be shown a few pages later that--OMG, I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT THAT WAY! After the fiftieth time it happens, wouldn't Langdon maybe keep his mouth shut or learn that things "aren't always what they seem"? And the ending. Without giving anything away, what exactly is the point of the pyramid and the secret codes and symbols if the answer is already known? Doesn't that make the entire plot pointless to begin with? It's not really such a big secret after all, is it? Why wouldn't everyone be screaming it from the rooftops instead of shrouding it in secrecy? I literally could go on and on. You could teach a course in senseless plot points based on this book.