Story Summary: For illuminati Beginners

Angels & Demons is a bestselling mystery novel by American author Dan Brown. The novel revolves around the quest of fictional Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon to unravel the mysteries of a secret society called the Illuminati, and preclude a plot from annihilating the Vatican City using destructive antimatter. The story recounts the conflict between science and religion that brought the establishment of the Illuminati, and, after centuries of non-existence, the group is thought to have resurfaced for retribution against the Roman Catholic Church.

Published in 2000, it introduces the character Robert Langdon, who is also the principal character of Brown's subsequent novel, The Da Vinci Code. It also shares many stylistic elements with the latter, such as conspiracies of secret societies, a single-day time frame, and the Roman Catholic Church. Ancient history, architecture, and symbolism are heavily referenced throughout the novel. A film adaptation of the same name is due for release on May 15, 2009.

Plot summary
The plot follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, as he tries to stop what seems to be the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying the Vatican City with the newly-discovered power of antimatter.

CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers one of the facility's most respected physicists, Leonardo Vetra, murdered in his own secured, private quarter at the facility. His chest is branded with a symbol—the ambigramatic "Illuminati"—and his eye is dislodged. Instead of calling the police, Kohler researches the topic on the Internet and finally gains contact with Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati. Kohler requests his assistance in uncovering the murderer.

What Langdon finds at the murder scene frightens him: the symbol appears to be authentic, and the legendary secret society, long thought to be defunct, seems to have resurfaced. Kohler calls Vetra's adopted daughter Vittoria to the scene, and it is later revealed that the Illuminati has also stolen a canister containing a quarter of a gram of antimatter—an extremely dangerous substance with destructive potential comparable to a small nuclear weapon, a potential unleashed upon contact with any form of normal matter. When charged with electricity at CERN, the canister's magnetic field controls the drop of antimatter to float suspended in a high vacuum, ensuring safety; but when it was taken away from its electricity supply, it automatically switched to its back-up battery, which will only power it for 24 hours. The horrible truth is that the Illuminati has put the stolen canister somewhere in Vatican City, with a security camera in front of it as its digital clock counts down to the explosion.

Langdon and Vittoria make their way to Vatican City, where the Pope has recently died, and the Il conclave has convened to elect the new pontiff. Cardinal Mortati, host of the election, discovers that the four Preferiti, cardinals who are considered to be the most likely candidates in the current Il election, are missing. After they arrive, Langdon and Vittoria begin searching for the Preferiti in hopes that they will also find the antimatter canister in the process. Their search is assisted by Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca (the late pope's closest aide) and the Vatican's Swiss Guard, including Commander Olivetti, Captain Rocher and Lieutenant Chartrand.

Convinced that the Illuminati are in some way responsible for the disappearance of the Preferiti, Langdon attempts to retrace the steps of the so-called "Path of Illumination", an ancient and elaborate process once used by the Illuminati as a means of induction of new members; prospective candidates for the Order were required to follow a series of subtle clues left in various landmarks in and around the Vatican City. If the candidate followed the clues properly, he would be able to locate the secret meeting place of the Illuminati and be granted membership in the Order. Using his extensive knowledge of religious and occult history, Langdon sets off on the Path of Illumination in hopes of uncovering clues as to the disappearance of the Preferiti and the location of the antimatter canister.

The Path leads Langdon to four major locations in Rome (Vatican City is within the city of Rome), each associated with what the Illuminati believed to be the four primordial elements of all things in existence: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Upon arriving at each location, Langdon finds one of the Preferiti murdered in a fashion appropriate to the location's respective element: The first cardinal was buried and had soil lodged in his throat (Earth); the second's lungs were pierced (Air); the third was engulfed in flames and burned alive (Fire); and the fourth was drowned in a large fountain (Water).

After finding the bodies of the first two Preferiti (Earth and Air), Langdon hurries to the Santa Maria della Vittoria Basilica and finds the Preferiti's abductor in the act of setting the cardinal on fire. The kidnapper, who is also responsible for the Leonardo Vetra's murder and the theft of the antimatter canister, is an unnamed Hassassin who is working under the orders of the Illuminati master "Janus", whose true identity is unknown. Commander Olivetti dies and Langdon is nearly killed himself in this encounter with the Hassassin, who manages to kidnap Vittoria. Langdon manages to escape and meets the Hassassin yet again at the final element's landmark (Water), but is unable to save the fourth cardinal.

Langdon nevertheless attempts to complete the Path of Illumination in order to find the Hassassin and rescue Vittoria. His search leads him to an abandoned castle-like structure with an underground tunnel leading directly into the Pope's chambers in the Vatican. Langdon frees Vittoria, and together they send the Hassassin falling several hundred feet to his death. The two hurry back to St. Peter's Basilica, where they find that Kohler has arrived to confront the camerlengo in private. Langdon and Vittoria fear that Kohler is Janus, and that he has come to murder the camerlengo as the final step in his plot against the Church. Hearing the camerlengo scream in agony, the Swiss Guards burst into the room and open fire on Kohler. Just before he dies, Kohler gives Langdon a videotape that he claims will explain everything.

With time on the canister running out, the Swiss Guard begins to evacuate the Basilica. As he is exiting the church, the camerlengo apparently goes into a trance and rushes back into the Basilica, claiming that he has received a vision from God revealing the location of the antimatter canister. With Langdon and a few others in pursuit, the camerlengo ventures deep into the catacombs beneath the Basilica and finds the canister sitting atop the tomb of Saint Peter. Langdon and the camerlengo retrieve the antimatter and get in a helicopter with only 5 minutes to spare. The camerlengo manages to parachute safely onto the roof of St. Peter's just as the canister explodes harmlessly in the sky. Langdon's fate is not immediately known, as there was not a second parachute on board the helicopter. The crowd in St. Peter's Square look in awe as the camerlengo stands triumphantly before them. Because of this "miracle", the Papal Conclave debate whether exception should be made to elect the camerlengo as the new Pope. Robert Langdon survived the explosion by using a window cover from the chopper as a parachute and landed in the Tiber River near Tiber Island, which is famous for its reputation as an island blessed with miracles of healing. He is hurt, but not seriously.

Langdon returns to St. Peter's and views Kohler's tape with the College of Cardinals. Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the camerlengo in the Sistine Chapel, where the truth is finally revealed. Shortly before the events of the novel, the Pope was scheduled to meet with Leonardo Vetra concerning his research at CERN. Vetra, a devout Catholic, believed that science was capable of establishing a link between Man and God, a belief that was manifested by his research on antimatter. Vetra's beliefs caused great discomfort to the camerlengo, who firmly believed that the Church alone, not science, should dictate the moral creed of the Christian faithful. While discussing Vetra, the Pope reveals that his support is due to science having created him a miracle: a son conceived by artificial insemination. Horrified that the Pope has fathered a child, the camerlengo plots to "rectify" the situation. He poisoned the Pope and, under the guise of an Illuminati master (Janus), he recruited the Hassassin, a killer fueled by the same zeal and animus towards the Church as his ancestors during The Crusades, to kill Vetra, steal the antimatter, and kidnap and murder the Preferiti just as the papal conclave was set to convene. The camerlengo planted the antimatter in St. Peter's and feigned his last-minute "vision" from God in order to be seen as a hero and the savior of Christendom by those who witnessed his brave acts. The Illuminati thus had no actual role in any of the novel's events, and its "involvement" was merely a plot engineered by the camerlengo to cover his own plans. As Langdon suspected from the very beginning, the Order of the Illuminati was indeed long extinct.

As one final twist, it is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca was the birth son of the late Pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Suddenly overcome with grief and guilt at having caused so much death, especially that of his own father, Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square. The conclave elects Cardinal Mortati as the new pope. In an ironic twist, through a quibble, a loophole in the papal election process known as election by acclamation, two popes were chosen - Ventresca by all the cardinals cheering his name before he lights himself on fire, and Mortati through normal means.

Langdon and Vittoria retire to the Hotel Bernini. Lieutenant Chartrand delivers a letter and package to Langdon from the new Pope. The package is the 'Illuminati Diamond' brand, which is loaned indefinitely to Langdon.

Dan Brown's new novel to release

BREAKING NEWS: Dan Brown's new novel THE LOST SYMBOL To be published September 15, 2009 Click here for more information

Celebrated author Dan Brown has completed the third book in his Da Vinci Code trilogy - a month ahead of the release of movie prequel Angels & Demons. The Lost Symbol is slated to hit bookstores in September and is set to become one of the year's biggest sellers. Sony Columbia Pictures movie executives are expected to snap up the rights to the book - and continue the saga's film franchise, in which Tom Hanks plays religious code breaker Robert Langdon. The third book will have an initial print run of five million copies. The Da Vinci Code is the best-selling hardcover adult novel of all time.

Movie Characters Summary

• Robert Langdon - A professor of symbology at Harvard University and the main protagonist of the novel. He is flown to CERN to help investigate the murder of Leonardo Vetra. He is described as wearing a pair of chinos pants, turtleneck, and tweed jacket. His name is a tribute to John Langdon.
• Leonardo Vetra - A scientist working at CERN and a priest. He is researching on antimatter when he is murdered by the Hassassin. He is also the adoptive father of Vittoria.
• Vittoria Vetra - The adopted daughter of Vetra. She, like her father, works with CERN. Her research focuses on biology and physics. The reader learns early in the novel that Vittoria worked with her father in their research of antimatter.
• Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca - The Camerlengo (Papal Chamberlain) during the conclave. He murdered the pope, who is later revealed to have been his father. He is also Janus in the novel, named after the Roman god of beginnings and ends, in dealing with the Hassassin.
• Cardinal Saverio Mortati - The most senior cardinal in the conclave, and the current Dean of the College of Cardinals. He was the Devil's Advocate for the late pope.
• Commander Olivetti - The commandant of the Swiss Guard. He is initially skeptical on the claims of Langdon and Vittoria until he talks with the Hassassin. He, along with other Swiss Guards, search desperately for the missing antimatter hidden somewhere at the Vatican. He is killed by the Hassassin at the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria.
• Captain Rocher - The second in command after Commander Olivetti. He is contacted by Max Kohler telling his knowledge on the real cause of the events. He is killed by Lt. Chartrand, who was under the impression that Rocher was an Illuminatus.
• Hassassin - The killer hired by Janus, the Camerlengo in disguise, to fulfill his plans. He is of Middle Eastern origin and displays his sadistic lust for women throughout the novel. He murders Leonardo Vetra, the Preferiti, and Commander Olivetti. He dies after being pushed from a balcony by Langdon at the Castel Sant'Angelo and breaking his back on a pile of cannonballs below.
• Maximilian Kohler - The director of CERN. He is feared at CERN despite his paralysis. His wheelchair contains electronic gadgets such as a computer, telephone, pager, video camera, and a gun. He contacts Langdon to help him find the killer of his friend, Leonardo Vetra. He blames the Church for his paralysis, due to his highly religious parents denying him medical care as a child, becoming a scientist as a way to rebel.
• Gunther Glick and Chinita Macri - A reporter and camera crew for the BBC. They are contacted by the Hassassin regarding the events happening in the Vatican. Glick has a notorious reputation as a sensationalist and conspiracy theorist journalist. Macri, meanwhile, is a veteran camera crew and a foil to Glick. They have the first-hand account on the events in the novel, from the beginning of the conclave to the election of Mortati as pope.
• Lieutenant Chartrand - A young Swiss Guard. He, together with Commander Olivetti and Cptn. Rocher, search desperately for the antimatter hidden somewhere in the Vatican. He shoots and kills Captain Rocher after he is mistaken as an Illuminatus. In the end of the novel, he is sent by the new pope to give the Illuminati Diamond as an indefinite loan to Langdon.
• Cardinal Ebner - One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Frankfurt, Germany. He is killed by asphyxation, by means of putting dirt and soil into his mouth.
• Cardinal Lamassé - One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Paris, France. He is killed by puncturing his lungs.
• Cardinal Guidera - One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Barcelona, Spain. He is hanged and incinerated.
• Cardinal Baggia - One of the four Preferiti and a cardinal from Milan, Italy and the favorite to succeed as the new pope. He was drowned.
• Sylvie Baudeloque - Secretary to Maximillian Kohler.

Silly faces of Tom Hanks in Angels and Demons

Sexy Ayelet Zurer Again Photos

Ayelet Zurer was born and raised in Tel Aviv. After finishing her military service, she moved to New York, where she developed her acting skills at the New Actors Workshop School.

Zurer moved back to Israel in 1991. In 1992, she starred in the television series Inyan Shel Zman, and in 1993, she played the lead role in the Israeli film Nikmato Shel Itzik Finkelstein. During this time she also participated in the cable television show Yetziat Hirum.

In 1997, Zurer played the role of Shira Shteinberg in the television show Florentin on the Israeli Channel 2. In the following year she achieved the lead role in the film Ahava Asura (aka The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field) starring Moshe Ivgy.

In 2000, Zurer participated in the Israeli television series Zinzana. In 2001, she starred in the movies Laila Lelo Lola and Kikar Ha'Halomot, and in 2002, she participated in the Israeli television series Shalva and Ha'Block.

In 2003, Zurer starred in Nina's Tragedies, portraying the title character, Nina, in one of her best known roles. Nina's role depicts a passionate young woman who must carve out a new life for herself after her husband's sudden death. She has won an Israeli Academy Award for Best Actress for this role.

In 2005, Zurer starred in the Israeli hit television series, Betipul, a widely popular drama about a psychologist and his patients' therapy process. She played the role of Na'ama Lerner, a seductive patient who initiates a romance with the doctor (portrayed by Assi Dayan). The series won her a Best Actress award from the Israeli Television Academy and was remade as the highly successful Emmy-and-Golden Globe-winning HBO series, In Treatment.

She participated, in 2006, in an Israeli television sketch-comedy series, Gomrot Holchot set in the context of young women's attention to relationships, marriage, sexuality, and careers. The show was inspired by the British sketch comedy show Smack the Pony.

Zurer's first international role was in Steven Spielberg's Munich (which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture), where she played Eric Bana's wife. She later played the role of an exotic terrorist, Veronica, in the American thriller Vantage Point, appearing alongside Dennis Quaid, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver. Her next international role was in Paul Schrader's Adam Resurrected, where she played Gina Grey, a nurse who falls in love with the title character, Adam Stein, a disturbed Holocaust survivor played by Jeff Goldblum.

In 2007, Zurer starred in Fugitive Pieces, the story of a boy who survives the Holocaust in Greece and becomes a troubled young adult who falls in love with her character.

In April 2008, Zurer was cast as the female lead, Vittoria Vetra, in the The Da Vinci Code prequel, Angels & Demons^[1], chosen over more well-known stars, including Naomi Watts, who had been in talks for the role. Zurer's character is the daughter of a CERN physicist who, after her father's murder, pairs with Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) on a journey to uncover the mystery behind her father's death and stop a terrorist plot.

Zurer has also been involved in theatre. She has appeared in Israeli plays such as Ha'Yoreshet, Madrich Nashim Le'Tohu Va'Vohu, Bigdei Ha'Melech, Bo'u Lo Nedaber Al Ze, Ohavim Et Ophal, and Monologim Me'Ha'Vaginah (The Vagina Monologues). In the United States, she has appeared in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Richard III.

Zurer has also modeled for fashion companies such as HONiGMAN and Golf. She was chosen ninth in TCCandler.com's 100 most beautiful faces of 2008.^[2]

As well for her work at acting, Zurer has illustrated the pictures for the 1999 fantasy book Be'Edulina by Gabi Nitzan, an Israeli author.

As of 2007, Zurer lives in California with her husband Gilad Londovski and their son, Liad, born in 2005.

Angels and Demons

• 
  
  
  
• Vantage Point
  
  
  
  
• Fugitive Pieces
  
  
  
  
• Munich
  
  
  
  
• Nina's Tragedies
  
  

Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer

Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer

Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer
Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer

Ayelet Zurer	Ayelet Zurer