Books - Digital Fortress

Since I enjoyed both Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code from Dan Brown, I decided to check out his first novel, Digital Fortress. This time Mr. Brown takes us inside the super-secretive NSA for a look at the world of cryptography and codebreakers.

Within 2 pages, I could see where Brown developed his formula for fast-paced thrillers. Angels and DaVinci begin the exact same way Digital Fortress does - a disconnected murder scene followed by the introduction of the athletic, attractive, intelligent, wealthy (oh - and lonely) protagonist. The protag quickly falls into a web of intrigue, faces numerous life-and-death situations over the next 24 hours, and yet manages to be back at work the next day. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed Fortress, and would recommend it. I just found the pattern to be very evident.

Technically, Brown did quite a good job with his use of cryptography and computer lingo, and I didn't find too many holes in his explanations. All in all, acceptably plausible.

Don't want to get into the plot - it would be difficult without giving it away. Suffice it to say - a fun book. 3.5 out of 5.