[DiapDealer]

I've always thought Angels & Demons was a "better" Brown book. And since there's no real point in reading any more than one Dan Brown book (the formula never changes), that's the one I always recommend. I love conspiracy thrillers. Their ridiculous implausibilty is all part of the attraction for me. The fact that an author may claim his/her research was intense and impeccable has no bearing on whether I enjoy their improbable fictional romp. Just like I can still enjoy a magic show knowing full well that I was lied to about audience members being planted and "no mirrors were used." It's over-the-top, ridiculous fiction... and I've given authors of the subgenre permission to lie to me about its authenticity. It's part of the show.

Enjoy the book if you can; put it it down if you can't. But there's certainly no real reason not to simply ignore the hype, and at least start a book and decide for yourself whether you should continue reading it. Especially if you got it for free. Unless as someone already mentioned, you don't like conspiracy thrillers in general, how much trauma could a couple of chapters of a free book cause you?