I recently finished reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (famous for The DaVinci Code). I am actually on a Dan Brown kick these days as I am in the middle of reading Angels & Demons, the prequel to DaVinci. And I just purchased his other book Deception Point which is next on my list…holding off on DaVinci until it comes out in paperback.
Digital Fortress was a pretty good book. I felt that the storyline was a little predictable, similar to the Jack Ryan type stories that Tom Clancy made famous in the 1980’s, where the focus of the story was on the CIA and the Government Intelligence community. The basic storyline is about a computer whiz who created an unbreakable encryption key and how a team of computer whizzes at the NSA were trying and failing to take control of the encryption key for the US Government’s own motives. While I liked the story, it just felt too familiar and I fairly easily figured out how the story would end.
Angels & Demons is completely different, as I am sort of flying blind with this story. There are some interesting twists so far and I am having a hard time figuring out where the story is going, which is a good thing! Its keeping me interested and that is what a great book does. And, its prepping me for the DaVinci Code. Lets hope it comes out in paperback before the movie comes out!!
Additional Book Review: I have still not finished Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons but I have to admit that it is a very good book. I did not give it as much credit previously. The storyline is quite complex and he does a masteful job of keeping the reader engaged in the different sub-plots that are part of the overall story. Definitely read this one before picking up The DaVinci Code.