Digital Fortress

I just finished reading Dan Brown's Digital Fortress less than 12 hours ago. I have read Angels and Demons, Da Vinci Code, and Deception Point by him as well. I enjoyed those books and that is why I plucked Digital Fortress from the used book store as another read.

I did not enjoy this book nearly as much as I enjoyed the others by him. I don't know if this was because the book was legitimately cheesy or if my book reading has matured and I need something with more substance. I believe it may have been a combo of the two.

Basically the book is about cryptography and what would happen if the NSA got a code it was unable to break. The topic sounded interesting enough, but in actual execution it lacked the thrill of what it promised. Since not everyone just knows about cryptography, it had to be explained. I don't believe this was done all that well. Then he made the elaborate scheme of who is the bad guy and after reading three of his books already, I knew who it was going to be. That took some fun out of it. Also, he tried to have a romantic undertone in the book which didn't really fit. The guy of the relationship was being chased in the book for about 10 chapters. That sucked because it just kept going. The real kicker though was how it ended. They had gotten one last clue to figure out in order to "save the world" and I got to the end before they did which is particularly annoying. I know some authors do it on purpose, but he doesn't strike me as the type. I may be wrong.

So overall, it was just ok. I wish I had just stuck with reading Harry Potter to gear up for the 7th book, but it was a nice break I guess. Oh well. :) It will at least be added to the list of books I have read this year, good, bad, or indifferent.