I first read Angels and Demons by Dan
Brown and couldn''t put it down. I loved it from cover to cover. I
followed that with Deception Point, another page turner that I
couldn''t put down. I then got around to reading his famous Da Vinci
Code. I was once again drawn into a world of fast paced, mind
boggling brilliance. So, it was with great relish that I picked up
Digital Fortress. Not only was I a big fan of Dan Brown''s
other works, it involved
computers, another of my interests. How
could it miss?But it did. It missed on a number of levels.
Not that it wasn''t an interesting read. The story was fast paced
enough to keep me turning the pages. The plot was interesting not
only in context of the story, but it
really made me think about the
government and what it could be doing behind our backs. In
the book, the NSA is a secret branch of the government that protects
the US from terrorists by tracking them on the web. They read
e-mails, tracks the movement of people on the web and basically can
find out anything about anybody. Susan Fletcher is their number 1
code breaker. She help to design their master computer which had
never seen a code it couldn''t break. The
problem is, it''s stuck. It
is facing a code it can not break. It turns out there is someone out
there who doesn''t like the fact that the government is secretly
watching our every moves. So, if his demands aren''t met, he goes
public and their cover is blown. But what is worse, it will open all
of our secret government files to the public. Anyone would have
access to any file they wanted. Big problem. From there, the story
takes a few twists and turns. The head of the department, the
professor, calls Susan in to try and fix it. But, he also sends her
boyfriend, who doesn''t even work for the organization, to another
country to retrieve a ring that holds the answer to the problem. But
while he''s trying to track it down, someone is trying to track him
down and kill him Which is where I started to think the story was a
bit weak. So, we''ve got this master computer in a secret part
of the government that can spy on our lives. That I can buy. Although
I felt the technical aspect of the story was good, it
didn''t have the
same strength of detail that Brown''s other
books had. But that wasn''t the only problem I had with the book. The
characters just didn''t have the depth and detail of his other books.
I just didn''t seem to be able to care about them or even understand
them. As the story went along, I found it to be a bit predictable and
the few smoke screens and diversions that he throws up are really
easy to see through. I didn''t get the same feeling of
suspense that I got in his other books. I didn''t think that the story
held the same kind of belief that the others did. I really thought
the fact that the professor sent off her boyfriend, who had nothing
at all to do with them was a lame attempt at adding urgency to the
situation . She''s racing to save the world and her boyfriend''s life
too. But it''s just too unbelievable to work for me. As the clock
ticks down, I found myself not really interested in seeing how they
stopped it. I was almost hoping they wouldn''t stop it in time and the
world would gain access to all of our government''s dirty little
secrets - now that would be a story! I didn''t feel that the ending
was very strong either. A real let down to what wasn''t a really good
story to begin with. Now, I guess I''m coming down pretty hard
on the book. I can''t say that I am sorry I read it. It was okay. Not
the same intensity and quality that I found in his other books, but
not the worst read I''ve ever had. I probably wouldn''t read it again,
where as with his other books I would. But I''m glad I read it. I will
be interested in seeing what else Dan Brown writes and see if he can
match the quality I found in his other books or if it will beine is, if you
are a real Dan Brown fan, pick it up, give it a read, but don''t
expect as much as you got in his other books. If you have never read
anything by Dan Brown, PLEASE don''t read this first, give his other
books a try and see if you like them - and if you do, give it a go.
I''m going to say yes to recommend this to buyers, but it''s a toss up
for me. I hope this isn''t shades of what''s to come from Dan Brown.
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