The New York Times - Janet Maslin
…Inferno puts the idea of a plague front and center, invoking the black plague, its casualty count and its culling effect on mankind. Mr. Brown is more serious than usual when he invokes Dante's dire warning: "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis"…But the main emphasis here is hardly on gloom. It is on the prodigious research and love of trivia that inform Mr. Brown's stories…the ease with which he sets them in motion, the nifty tricks…and the cliffhangers…the gamesmanship…And finally there is the sense of play that saves Mr. Brown's books from ponderousness, even when he is waxing wise about some ancient mystery or architectural wonder.
EW.com
A DIVERTING THRILLER...Brown stocks his latest book with all the familiar elements: puzzles, a beautiful female companion, and hints of secret conspiratorial agendas.
The Washington Post
BROWN IS AT HIS BEST when he makes readers believe that dusty books and musty passageways are just covers for ancient global conspiracies.
The Wall Street Journal
FAST, CLEVER, WELL-INFORMED...DAN BROWN IS THE MASTER OF THE INTELLECTUAL CLIFFHANGER.
USA Today
AS CLOSE AS A BOOK CAN COME TO A SUMMERTIME CINEMATIC BLOCKBUSTER...Brown builds up Langdon's supporting cast, which is the strongest yet.
From the Publisher
A book-length scavenger hunt. . . . Jam-packed with tricks.” —The New York Times
“Fast, clever, well-informed. . . . Dan Brown is the master of the intellectual cliffhanger.” —The Wall Street Journal
“One hell of a good read. . . . As close as a book can come to a summertime cinematic blockbuster.” —USA Today
“A diverting thriller.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Brown isn’t just a novelist; he’s a crossover pop culture sensation. . . . Inferno is the kind of satisfying escapist read that summers were made for.” —The Boston Globe
“Harrowing fun threaded with coded messages, art history, science, and imminent doom.” —Daily News (New York)
“[Brown is] the planet’s most dastardly thriller writer. . . . Inferno moves with . . . velocity, excitement, and fun.” —The Independent (UK)
“An adventure ride through a literary text. . . . [A] sweeping spectacle.” —Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“A fast and furious race.” —The Plain Dealer
"A master of the breathless, puzzle-driven thriller.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
“What Brown does in a way that appeals to millions of people around the world is tell stories that remind us there’s more to the world than meets the eye.” —The Huffington Post
Kirkus Reviews
Brown's (The Lost Symbol, 2009, etc.) latest, in which a very bad guy is convinced that there are entirely too many people roaming the surface of the planet, and, because he's a fan of Dante and the Plague both, he's set to unleash inferno upon the world. Naturally enough, this being a Brown novel, someone is in possession of a piece of occult knowledge that will save the day--or not. The novel is populated with the usual elements in the form of secret, conspiratorial organizations and villains on the way to being supervillains, and readers of a literary bent may find the writing tortured: "This morning, as he stepped onto the private balcony of his yacht's stateroom, the provost looked across the churning sea and tried to fend off the disquiet that had settled in his gut." To his credit, Brown's yarn is somewhat more tightly constructed than his earlier Langdon vehicles, though its best parts are either homages or borrowings; the punky chick assassin who threatens Langdon, for instance, seems to have wandered in from a Stieg Larsson set, while the car-chase-and-explosions stuff, to say nothing of Langdon's amnesiac wanderings around the world, would seem to be a nod to Robert Ludlum. (Being chased by a drone is a nice touch, though.) If you want more of the great medieval poet Dante woven into a taut thriller, see Matthew Pearl's The Dante Club. Ace symbologist Robert Langdon returns, and the world trembles. Perfect escapist reading for fans.
