Rating: 
Summary: Weak presentation of crypto and unbelievable situations
Review: I haven't been able to get past the first fifth of this book because the plot elements hinge on a series of innacuracies and unbelivable situations. I understand that this is supposed to be fiction, but my suspension of disbelief will only carry me so far. You cannot write a book about the NSA without a clear understanding of cryptography. Sure, maybe you gloss over the details to the readers, but you don't feed them misinformation about what can and can't be done. You don't have the characters mutter things like 'Bergofsky Principle' and 'Biggleman's Safe' to cover your ignorance. The antagonist presented in the beginning of the book comes across like some sort of Lex Luthor charicature, and all the main characters so far seem to think of personal privacy and freedom as some sort of cancer that might detract from the eternal hunt for terrorism. Politics, science, characters.... nothing to see here.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty sad and predictable
Review: You could see the plot twists coming from a mile away. I'll admit that it was fairly interesting, but not very plausible. This is the first book from Dan Brown I have read. But, if this is any indication of his capabilities, I believe he will be getting a pass from me. I found his characters to be shallowly developed and predictable. Your mileage however may vary.
Rating:
Summary: If you want to read Dan Brown, read Davinci Code
Review: The other reviewers have hit it on the nail - this book is not worth the paper it's printed on! I see that several reviewers have pointed to glaring mistakes in the computer front of this book, let me say that ALL the Japanese items in the book are COMPLETELY inaccurate and nonsensical! Prime example, in one scene he has the CEO of a Japanese company praying to the "shichigosan", explaining that it is the 7 gods of good fortune. Well, I laughed out loud when I read that, because "shichigosan" is the Japanese kids festival that is celebrated when kids are 7,5 and 3 (i.e. 7 in Japanese is shichi, 5=go, you get the point). What he meant was "shichifukujin" the 7 gods of good fortune. A tiny bit of research could have easily avoided those horrible pitfalls. Other than these faux pas, the story is staid, characters boring, ending predictable. I had actually read the Davinci Code first, which I enjoyed (but not as much as all the reviewers hyped it up to be) but was completely disappointed with this book. I his publisher reads these reviews and edits the book properly!
Rating: 
Summary: Try his other stuff
Review: Looks like Dan Brown may be getting Clancyitis -- he had some good books and now he is starting to crank up the factory production. This wasn't nearly as good as the other books by Dan Brown I've read. In particular, try Deception Point. In Digital Fortress, you can see it coming from a mile away. There are very few real twists or suprises, the action is pretty slow, and the "science" is hardly new or exciting. Maybe those who are not familiar with computers or security would have an easier time getting shocked or suprised by anything in this book. Save your money, save your time -- read Digital Fortress if you want a good Dan Brown book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast paced action, leave belief at door
Review: Having read DVC, A&D and Deception Point, which I enjoyed in the order written here, I had to try this one too. It's a fast paced action novel, so it was an entertaining read, however, and this is a big however, the characters were bland, there was no clear protagonist and the story revolved around a lot of pretty unbelievable stuff. If you can get past all that then you'll probably enjoy reading this thriller too. Brown writes in much the same way that Crichton does, they come up with some totally unbelievable "could never happen" idea and develop it into an entertaining yarn. Since strong story telling is far more important then raw facts and data, they are both successful in engaging the reader. Perhaps of the four Brown books mentioned here, this one is the most likely to become a movie, simply because it has the least amount of wild stuff to explain, like ancient brotherhoods, secret codes, historical monuments, etc. The computer stuff is always glossed over in the movies so this one would probably work, a giant computer used by the government is being attacked by hackers and a beautiful and very smart "top of her field" heroine must save the day.
Rating:
Summary: Digital Disaster
Review: Dan is not a bad author, and does good characters, but the central premise of the book is completely bogus, and it is not possible for a technical type like me to overlook it. I tossed the book.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat enjoyable, but can only suspend disbelief so far!
Review: For a book with text on the back exclaiming its virtue as a "smart thriller," Digital Fortress is unfortunately full of stupidity. Right off the bat, the book opens up with various technical inaccuracies, which continue throughout the book. No particularly specialized knowledge is required to see the technical flaws in the very foundations of the story. Beyond that, there are a number of situations in the story where the supposedly super-smart characters can't grasp some basic concept that comes to the intelligent reader very quickly. During those scenes, I couldn't help but feel like Mr. Brown was writing this book with the least common denominator in mind - keep it slow for the readers who think very slowly. Never mind how terribly out of character it is. This is probably worst at the very end of the story, where it takes 4 or 5 very smart characters many pages to figure out the meaning of a fairly straightforward phrase. They belabor each word, not coming to immediately obvious conclusions about the words they haven't specifically discussed yet. I suppose it's also worth mentioning that there are relatively few surprises in the book. I was surprised by one aspect of the ending, but throughout the rest of the book, I felt like I was one, two, or even three steps ahead of the author, as if I could have said "You take a break, Mr. Brown. I'll write the next page for you." Over all, I actually did find the story enjoyable, in the broadest sense. However, it would have been FAR better if Mr. Brown had taken the time to research his facts to make the technical aspects of his story plausible, and if he had set his expectations a bit higher in terms of reader intelligence. And if not for the fact that I was sitting on a bunch of planes with nothing better to do, I'd have probably not even finished the book after getting through the first few chapters (did I mention the ADHD-inspired chapters? Few of them are longer than 2-3 pages, and a good number of them are one page or less).
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't suspend disbelief
Review: I was able to accept that nobody at the NSA would question an unbreakable code. I didn't blink when it was proposed that someone could introduce a virus into an NSA computer with some sample cyphertext. But he crossed the line when the NSA used "Streaming Quicktime" for a video feed. Nobody at the NSA would ever do that! They'd use H.323 or Windows Media, but not "Quicktime". It was hard for me to continue after that. It made me wonder how much Apple paid Dan Brown for the product placement.
Rating: 
Summary: VERY Interesting, but......
Review: But unfortunatly, slightly inaccurate. I loved this book as much a Da Vinci Code, and was THRILLED by the reference to the Navel Base in Rota (I live on the base) but I was annoyied but several inaccuracies, especially one: Dan Brown spent a lot of time talking about the steps of the Giralda in Sevilla, but there's one problem: the Giralda has ramps. No steps. It was built by Moors (who were Muslim) and they built in easy-to-climb ramps that made it possible to drive donkeys to the top every day for prayer call. Over all, a very good read, though slightly less researched than others. If your going to obsess and let inaccuracies ruin your read, then don't read it.
Rating:
Summary: I actually liked this book
Review: After reading some of the negative reviews, I wasn't sure I wanted to take this on, but after a few chapters I fell into the thing and was on my way. As with all Brown's books, you HAVE to suspend your disbelief to a great extent. I mean, the guy is not writing some "Grapes of Wrath" type story. That said, "yes" it would be nice if he did his research. But even with these flaws, his books are still worth a shot. And I actually liked DF better than "Code" or "Angels & Demons." Also read to really good books lately, though both are MILES from DF in content and writing style: Jackson McCrae's "The Bark of the Dogwood," and a book called "A Death in Vienna."
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