Digital Fortress

source : Amazon.com
author : Dan Brown

In most thrillers, "hardware" consists of big guns, airplanes, military vehicles, and weapons that make things explode. Dan Brown has written a thriller for those of us who like our hardware with disc drives and who rate our heroes by big brainpower rather than big firepower. It's an Internet user's spy novel where the good guys and bad guys struggle over secrets somewhat more intellectual than just where the secret formula is hidden--they have to gain
understanding of what the secret formula actually is.

In this case, the secret formula is a new means of encryption, capable of changing the balance of international power. Part of the fun is that the book takes the reader along into an understanding of encryption technologies. You'll find yourself better understanding the political battles over such real-life technologies as the Clipper Chip and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) software even though the book looks at the issues through the eyes of fiction.

Although there's enough globehopping in this book for James Bond, the real battleground is cyberspace, because that's where the "bomb" (or rather, the new encryption algorithm) will explode. Yes, there are a few flaws in the plot if you look too closely, but the cleverness and the sheer fun of it all more than make up for them. There are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and a lot of high, gee-whiz-level information about encryption, code breaking, and the role they play in international politics. Set aside the whole afternoon and evening for it and have finger food on hand for supper--you may want to read this one straight through.

The National Security Agency (NSA) is one setting for this exciting thriller; the other is Seville, where on page 1 the protagonist, lately dismissed from NSA, drops dead of a supposed heart attack. Though dead, he enjoys a dramaturgical afterlife in the form of his computer program. Digital Fortress creates unbreakable codes, which could render useless NSA's code-cracking supercomputer called TRANSLTR, but the deceased programmer slyly embossed a decryption key on a ring he wore. Pursuit of this ring is the engine of the plot. NSA cryptology boss Trevor Strathmore dispatches linguist Dave Becker to recover the ring, while he and Becker's lover, senior code-cracker Susan Fletcher, ponder the vulnerability of TRANSLTR. In Seville, over-the-top chase scenes abound; meanwhile, the critical events unfold at NSA. In a crescendo of murder, infernos, and explosions, it emerges that Strathmore has as agenda that goes beyond breaching Digital Fortress, and Brown's skill at hinting and concealing Strathmore's deceit will rivet cyber-minded readers. -- Gilbert Taylor

Reader's review:
The National Security Agency, (NSA), has a top secret, totally invincible code-breaking machine called TRANSLTR, especially effective against advanced electronic terrorism. A disgruntled ex-NSA employee, Ensei Tankado, is a genius computer programmer and author of encryption algorithms. He has written a program that creates unbreakable codes and is using this program to blackmail NSA. Tankado wants a public disclosure of TRANSLTR. This multibillion dollar wonder machine that supports the CIA, FBI, DEA, IRS, etc., and traces & monitors drug cartel shipments, corporate money transfers and terrorists chatter on the Internet, also grossly violates human rights. It is able to open and read everyone's email and reseal it without public knowledge. The US government has the capability, with TRANSLTR, of violating the privacy of computer users around the world. And Tankado is sworn to protect the peoples' right to privacy. Sounds like a terrific plot, right? That's why I bought the book.

Enter Susan Fletcher, the beautiful, talented, brilliant NSA cryptologist and mathematician who steps in to investigate the unbreakable code that threatens to render TRANSLTR useless. What she uncovers should be shocking and terrifying, but it isn't. It's blatantly unbelievable. The theory is realistic, but the people who take action, and their different rationales, are totally ludicrous. How could people like this be in charge of national security? I could understand a bad apple, or even two - but there are just too many wackos populating this novel, and all with mega-responsibility. It would be horrifying if there were a secret code that would cripple US intelligence systems. But Brown tampered too much with a potentially great plot. He has Susan's boss, Commander Strathmore, deputy director of NSA's CRYPTO facility, send Susan's fiance to Spain on a Top Secret errand...and the fiance doesn't even work for NSA! He's a foreign language professor! Apparently Strathmore has his own agenda, which is ridiculous and totally weakens the storyline. There is unnecessary globetrotting, too many needless murders, silly dialogue, uncalled for disasters, etc., etc. If Dan Brown were not the author, I would have closed the book before the halfway mark. I kept waiting for the author to make some sense out of all the malarkey.

There is so much potential here for a super suspense techno-thriller. And the issue of where to draw the line between national security and personal freedom is a wonderful one to explore. Unfortunately the novel contains too many special effects, unbelievable subplots and flat characters...and all the above mentioned needless action. The fascinating information about real life technologies, cryptography and the battle for privacy in cyberspace is lost in the mega-murders and catastrophes that plague this novel. If you are intrigued by the subject matter, then by all means read the book, and you may even enjoy it. It seems that other reviewers have. I don't often award 1 Star, but I really believe that that's all this novel deserves. I find Dan Brown's other books to be excellent - across the board. -- Jana L. Perskie

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