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Digital Fortress : A Thriller
by Authors:
Dan Brown
Hardcover
In pretty much every thriller, the term "hardware" consists of large guns, figther jets, jeeps, and weapons that make big explodsions. Dan Brown has written a new thriller for those of us who measure hardware in bytes and with disc drives. Thise Who rate our heroes by brainpower rather than firepower. This is an Internet user's spy novel where the good and bad guys fight over secrets more intellectual than just where the secret nuclear bunker is hidden--in this novel they have to gain understanding of what the 'secret formula' actually is.
In this book, the 'secret formula' is a new means of data encryption, the new codec is capable of changing the balance of power across the globe. The fun of the book is that it takes the reader along into an understanding of different encryption technologies. You will find your-self gaining a better understanding of the political battles over which such real-life technologies as the 'Clipper Chip' and 'PGP' (Pretty Good Privacy) software, however not completely accurately.
Although there's enough globe-hopping in this novel for James Bond, the real battleg takes place in cyberspace, because that's where the bomb (the new encryption algorithm) will explode. Although there are a few flaws in the story if you look closely, the cleverness and the entertainment of it all makes up for them. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and a lot of high level information about code breaking, encryption, and the role they play in politics. You will need to set aside the whole evening for it--this is one book that you may want to read straight through.
Average Customer Rating:
Fun, But Makes Little Sense
Digital Fortress concerns the wild world of breaking secret codes and the way the NSA handles them and a new threat named Digital Fortress.
The action is fast and hard. This is another 24-hour story (like Deception Point and Angels & Demons) and follows a similar formula. It is fun to read and a real page turner, but there are so many flaws that a reader may have their enjoyment derailed.
Lets look at a few of the flaws.
First, apparently in the minds of intelligent people, the NSA is just or rumor or they have never heard of it at all. Not very realistic.
If you have a super computer and you continually deny its very existence, you should probably not put it under a big glass dome in a major city (the one in the book is under such a dome; clear enough to see the stars at night).
If a program is available for download on the Internet and you change it, it does not change the copies that people have already downloaded.
There is a secure database separate from the Internet at the beginning of the book, but later it is described as fully connected and under siege from hackers just waiting to get into a system none of them knows exists.
Put a bunch of very intelligent people together who can handle just about every problem, but at the end of the book start calling up wild goose theories and stats instead of the standard and obvious (which should have been their first choice).
Have a bunch of people whose job is breaking codes and have them disbelieve that there is a code in front of them.
There are also plenty of "historical" facts that need to be taken with a grain of salt as they reflect popular opinion of history and not what actually happened.
Most of these problems will become evident and contextual if you read, or have read, the book.
Still, as I said earlier, it is a fun and fast book. However, if you have read other Dan Brown books you will probably be able to figure out a lot as it follows the same formula.
Exhilarating thriller
The more Dan Brown I read, the more I enjoy Dan Brown. The man is a master of the fast paced thriller and it is fun to watch his growth from one book to another even if I did begin my acquaintanceship with his blockbuster "The DaVinci Code."
Brown's books always start fast and "Digital Fortress" is no exception. Ensei Tankado dies in a Seville plaza. He raises his hand, fingers outstretched . . . and dies. Susan Fletcher, a National Security Agency cryptographer is roused from her dreams first by a call from David Becker, her university professor boyfriend who tells her he has to postpone their planned weekend romantic retreat in order to fly off to an unknown destination. Seething and disappointed, her anger if interupted by a call from Commander Strathmore, her NSA boss asking - commanding - that she come in on this Saturday to help on an emergency project.
It seems Tankado has launched an attack on NSA's most secret computers.
From that point on, Brown takes you on a non-stop adventure - and it's fun.
Brown's characters are well rounded and don't engage in super-heroics, though they do seem to catch more than their share of lucky breaks. But Brown's plotting carries you over those points so fast that you fail or simply don't want to notice them.
For the thriller fan, "Digital Fortress" is an exhilarating read.
Jerry
He needed a computer tech advisor
There are so many inaccuracies in this book that it makes it difficult to keep reading. It gives a new slant to The Da Vinci Code. If that's as full of errors as this one, then the Catholic Church can rest its concerns.
I could enumerate them, but this book isn't worth the time or effort. I'm sorry I bought it.
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Exhilarating thriller 
He needed a computer tech advisor 
