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Summary: A Conspiracy Thriller that really THRILLS!
Review: After reading the INCREDIBLE 'Da Vinci Code' and the equally exciting 'Angels & Demons' I figured I couldn't go wrong with 'Deception Point' and I was 100% RIGHT. Dan Brown is fast becoming one of my all-time favorite authors.After becoming familiar with Brown's religious thrillers, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that 'Deception Point' was entirely different--but JUST as much fun. If you enjoy stories about conspiracies that are as big as they come, this story is definitely for YOU. Rachel Sexton works for the Intelligence Community compiling information for the President. The odd twist in this story is that we are coming up on election time and the man poised to snatch the White House from under the feet of current President Zach Herney is none other than Rachel's own estranged Father, Senator Sedgewick Sexton. It takes some time to figure out who is indeed the bad guys in this tale--and trust me, you will probably be wrong anyway--but finding out certainly IS a great deal of the fun here. Rachel is contacted by the President and asked to confirm for his current staff the existence of a Meteor found near the Top of the World. Not just ANY Meteor, either. At first Rachel is stunned that the President would be so forward and ask this of the daughter of his biggest rival. Senator Sexton has been THE single largest thorn in the side of NASA because of their chronic overspending and multi-billion dollar failures--screw-up's that have cost the American taxpayers dearly over the years. President Herney has been one of NASA's biggest supporters, much to his own detriment in the polls lately. Rachel actually HAS been chosen specifically because of her relationship to his rival to make this report. President Herney believes that this discovery will come with a great deal of skepticism, even from his own staff. So who better to make this announcement than the daughter of the man who wants to TAKE the White House from President Herney? Rachel agrees under a few stipulations and is off to an Ice Shelf at the North Pole. This sets the stage for the Mother of ALL Conspiracies, and when you find out the source of WHY it was all hatched, and WHO is behind it, the surprise ought to be rather big (at least it was for me). Is the Meteorite in fact real, and if not, how could NASA have possibly tricked some of the most brilliant scientific minds of the country? Is the President IN on this possible scandal, or is he a pawn of someone infinitely more devious? And what about Senator Sexton? Is he who he says he is? Are his motives clean and pure, or is he just as bad as those attempting to fraud the world? There are some honest-to-goodness twists & turns you can expect in 'Deception Point' and a few genuine surprises along the way. Always fun and actually quite educational about the workings of NASA and it answers the question of why don't we see more privately funded companies winning contracts to launch into space? Get to know Dan Brown, do it today! You will NOT be disappointed. Highly Recommended.
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Summary: Yet another excellent book by Dan Brown!
Review: One extraordinary book after another! And I honestly cannot seem to put any of them down! First, THE DA VINCI CODE went well beyond it's main plot to take us on a quest for knowledge unlike anything we could conceive, with excellent research, and now has done the same with this technical thriller! My personal thirst for entertaining tales were brought out in this book as well as by Dan Brown's other books: ANGELS AND DEMONS and DIGITAL FORTRESS. Not to mention ranking high on my list that includes science fiction and fantasy books that have captured my imagination and mind over the years, such as STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, I, ROBOT, RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA, FOUNDATION, RINGWORLD, CRYPTONOMICON, SNOW CRASH, NEUROMANCER, DARKEYE: CYBER HUNTER, ERAGON, HALO: FIRST STRIKE, SPEAKER OF THE DEAD, and other highly imaginative books.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting mystery
Review: While this is not my favorite work by Dan Brown it is enjoyable. Creditable research yielded and good mystery that will keep you up reading late at night. A bit predictable at times, this book is still worth the time to read for Dan Brown fans. The characters are very interesting as is the technology contained in this story.
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Summary: A failed attempt to emulate Michael Crichton.
Review: Before burning up the bestsellers' list with THE DA VINCI CODE, author Dan Brown released three other novels. ANGELS & DEMONS introduced the recurring hero around whom CODE was based, and another was about advances in digital cryptography. The third was DECEPTION POINT, a bizarre misfire that reads like a weak pastiche of a Michael Crichton thriller. Fans of THE DA VINCI CODE now searching through Brown's backlist for a good read would be wise to steer well clear of this rubbish. DECEPTION POINT takes place in a parallel America with only passing resemblance to the real thing. In this parallel America, the top-rated show on television is a documentary program about Earth's oceans, and a presidential candidate can surge to the top of the polls by publicly bashing NASA's budget overruns. Clearly Brown's more interested in the thrill-a-minute set pieces he's arranged for his characters to endure than in providing an even slightly realistic backdrop. In the context of a bizarre contest for the Presidency, an incredible discovery is made in the polar ice. Teams of scientists, as well as a purely extraneous character meant to be the protagonist, travel to the Arctic Circle to verify the find. Brown spends the first hundred pages of DECEPTION POINT trying to cast a Michael Crichton-esque spell upon the proceedings, complete with mouthpiece characters spewing reams of expository data. Later, though, when evidence of fraud comes to light, the narrative devolves into a series of action sequences so wildly improbable that they would give Arnold Schwarzenegger pause. Dan Brown is no Michael Crichton. While Crichton can take even the most mundane of topics and infuse it with fascination and wonderment, Brown can only run his flat, poorly developed characters through the motions. His villains are one step away from twirling their mustaches and tying the heroes to the railroad tracks. The conspiracy around which the plot is so widespread and costly to enact that the reader is not convinced anyone would buy it. DECEPTION POINT demonstrates that no cliché is beneath Brown's consideration. The novel has everything: scheming politicians with a history of infidelity and dishonest financial dealings, wisecracking scientists, killers who can never seem to kill the heroes even when there's no escape, and villains who'd rather talk about their plans than dispose of their enemies. Perhaps if Dan Brown were trying to create an AUSTIN POWERS-like satire of technothrillers, DECEPTION POINT could be considered a success. As it is, the novel is a flailing mess even before it reaches its howlingly far-fetched conclusion. As mentioned, DECEPTION POINT will likely see its sales renewed thanks to Dan Brown's powerhouse hit, THE DA VINCI CODE, but it doesn't deserve the attention. Writing careers have foundered on books as worthless as DECEPTION POINT. Dan Brown and his publishers would be better off burying this novel deep in the polar ice cap. That's no worse than it deserves.
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Summary: Definately a Page Turner
Review: This is one of those books that you just can't put down. I read this one in record time. It centers around the discovery of a meteorite at the North Pole that contains, what appears to be, exterrestial life. Just judging by the title of the book you can determine that there is a ruse going on. And those that stumble onto the deception must be eliminated. The action is fact-paced and the characters are extremely intriguing! I especially liked the scientists when they are so into themselves as being right that they just discount anyone that questions their analyses. Additionally, like the title also implies, not all the characters are what you think they are! I would have rated this higher except that some of the escapes/rescues got so unbelievable that they insulted the reader's intelligence.
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Summary: Loved it a lot!
Review: I just love books like this that respect the reader so much. It's so readable, completely un-self-indulgent, and you're happily entrenched in escape-from-the-world mode from cover to cover. Also, personally I'm a great fan of all the amazing new technology that comes out but I'd never have time to learn about it.
In Dan Brown's books, one of the things I look forward to is knowing that he's going to teach me about all the cool new stuff, in a way that shows how it might all actually be used, for good or for evil, and I always come away feeling like my knowledge is right there on the cutting edge! I just have a ton of respect for an author who does so much homework about interesting things and does such a good job at making it so much fun to absorb for his readers. It's something I've always liked about Tom Clancy, but I now think I like Dan's books more because they always keep the energy level up and don't drag on with filler like it seems Clancy's books now do.
I find Dan's books somehow entertain me in the effortless, direct way a great movie does: I can just sit down and sink into the great story and, and I mean this in the best possible way, I don't really have to think; it's not like reading, it's more like watching a great flick. You kind of just sit back and enjoy the ride - the story just flows into you.
I'm always sad to finish them because life seems so mundane afterward. For fun, if you are open minded and looking for those books begging for its pages to be turned...look no further. I just read a copy of Edgar Fouche's 'Alien Rapture,' which also blew me away. Fouche was a Top Secret Black Program 'insider', whose credibility has been verified over and over. I also really liked Dan Brown's 'Angels and Demons.' Want to be shocked, check out Dr. Paul Hill's 'Unconventional Flying Objects' which NASA tried to ban - and lend credibility to Brown's book and the possibility of NASA and Government cover-ups. Anyway, great stuff.
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Summary: Dan Brown's Deception Point
Review: Dan Brown hit it big with The Da Vinci Code. He had already used the characters in that book once before in Angels & Demons. Now when I say he used the characters, I mean not only was Robert Langdon in both stories, but the female lead, the endearing father figure, the megalomaniacal villain, the unstoppable killer, and the militant police officer were in both stories. Now, true, the names for everyone but Robert Langdon were changed. But they were the same characters. On top of that, I think that Angels & Demons is a far superior story to The Da Vinci Code. So when I downloaded and began reading Deception Point, Brown's third novel, I was afraid that the same characters would be present. I still suspected this having gotten all the way through the first dozen chapters or so. None of the characters had been developed very well at that point and even though the apparent main character was female instead of male, the same kind of details existed around her. She did an obscure job, had a phobia, and got thrown into a situation that she felt completely foreign in. Howver, what I discovered as I read was that of his latter three books, Deception Point is definitely Brown's best work. (I have yet to read Digital Fortress, his very first novel.) Brown didn't focus on just one character for the story to revolve around, he had two: Rachel Sexton (the action sequences star) and Gabrielle Ashe (the intrigue sequences star). The story is that of a presidential election and a massive NASA discovery - a meteorite that contained fossilized extraterrestials! Great stuff. The action sequences included icebergs, submarines, black helicopters, UFOs, and Hammerhead sharks! The intrigue sequences included terrorism, illegal campaign financing, massive governmental cover-ups, and the naturally exciting field of presidential politics. When I think about either of the Illuminati novels, I can think of six main characters. When I think of this novel, there are at least 10 main characters and I know I'm missing some. In a complete reversal of normal literary critique, Brown seems to be a better storyteller when he doesn't focus on developing characters. It truly is the weakest part of his craft (if you don't count the ham-fisted romantic relationships he tries to write). In the end, I knew three-quarters of the way through who the real megalomaniacal mastermind was. And it was then that I started recognizing a few of the set pieces that Brown is using over and over. For lack of a better term, he has schticks. And he's used them in all three novels of his that I've read. See if you can find them. Overall, this book was worth the time if you're a Dan Brown fan. It read quickly in parts but slowly in others and sometimes the twists were telegraphed a mile away. If I were asked I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys popcorn movies.
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Summary: Awsome book with an awsome plot
Review: Saying Dan Brown is a good thriller writer, or just a good writer doesn't give him enough credit for the work he puts into all his books. All of his information is accurate and usually fascinating, informing me of things unbelievable and yet unknown. All of the cool technology, characters, research and plots in this book amaze me and I feel as though I could read then book 5 times and still wonder how he creates a suspenseful, yet realistic world filled with descriptive characters and twisted plots.
Deception Point is another of Dan Brown's masterpieces filled with deep plots, deception, and the usual brilliance that fills his novels. Deception Point is a story about a mysterious object found deep in a polar iceberg. The president of the United States, Zach Hearney, sends up four civilian scientists and his white house informative, Rachel Sexton, to verify NASA'S breakthrough find. This discovery comes at a helpful time to NASA and President Hearney. (...) . Senator Sedgewick Sexton, also Rachel's father, is running for the title of President, and some good NASA news would only help President Hearney, who strongly supported the program. This makes the find great, but not what makes it incredible. I will admit that finding alien life is a bit corny to fuel a book on, but the development and political scandal in protecting the information is what kept me turning the pages until late in the night.
Like in all of Brown's other books the characters in Deception Point change and reveal their true nature and intentions. It would be easy to see the true culprit, if not for Brown's deceiving writing that leads the reader to believe the evil character is really someone else.
I will admit that some of the rescues the characters happen upon are unlikely, but Brown probably gave them with the most creativity he could, and still make them seem somewhat plausible.
Altogether, reading Deception Point would not be a waste of time, and presents itself to the reader quite easily, making an easy read, a good laugh, and an intriguing plot to spend your day wondering about.
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Summary: An average thriller....
Review: With the popularity of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, I'm sure that alot of readers like me are looking for other works by this popular author. Deception Point is one of his earlier works and features the fast pace, non stop action that he is becoming known for. In Deception Point, intelligence agent Rachel Sexon is the daughter of presidential candidate Senator Sexton. He opposes big government spending and one of the features of his campaign is to stop waste spending, esp NASA. The sitting president summons Rachel to verify an extraordinary find in the Artic Sea--a metorite with proof of extra-terrestial life form..found by NASA. Rachel and other civilian experts soon find out that the meteorite is a hoax. This discovery puts their lives in danger as an elite military team targets them to destroy them and proof of the deception. TV scientist Michael Talland joins Rachel to help find out the truth. But they are unsure of who to trust in the government and who is behind the conspiracy. The plot of fast paced and exciting with lots of action and suspenseful twists. It keeps the reader engaged in the story. As with all his other novels, there is a lack of character development that limits this novel and prevents it from giving it 5 stars. But for fans of a fast moving thriller- this book won't disappoint.
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Summary: Good Cheap, Easy (Conspiratorial) Read
Review: Excellent beach book. Not exactly the intellectual thriller equivalent of Dickens, but overall, a worthy effort.
Brown's story here is that NASA - and two mud-slinging political opponants - are involved in a complex plot of (you guessed it!)...deception. NASA has "found" something in the ice at one of the poles, and is using this discovery to help swing the polls in time for an election. Needless to say, this is a superb book for anyone who enjoys reading about conspiracies; this seems to contain the ultimate governmental conspiracy. Is it far fetched? Yes. But forseeable, as well.
In my mind, this is what makes Brown such an excellent "suspense" writer: He takes the utterly feasible and transmorgifies it into something which, albeit far-fetched, is still probable.
While the story twists and turns innumerous times, it is still easy to follow. Rachel Sexton is a convincing character, and while she remains - along with the rest of the characters - only superficially developed, it's not much of a problem. This novel doesn't exactly pack a mental punch. While reading it, it seemed interesing and held my attention well enough: I finished this in about five days. The story was fast paced and everything was explained fairly well. Like the other Brown book I've read, "Angels and Demons," the ending had something to be desired: It seemed like Rachel and Michael fell out of character too far for me to believe the ending. Looking back, the characters seem blocky and superficial (definitely the latter), the dialogue is forced...
Truth is, Brown isn't such a good writer, but he sure as shoot knows how to craft an excellent story. If you can get past the mechanics and 'flow' problems, this is an excellent book to just kick back and read: It is easy to read and doesn't condescend the reader, unlike many techno-thrillers of the day.
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