Rating: Summary: Another winner from Dan Brown Review: "Deception Point" is another fast paced Dan Brown cliffhanger that I could not put down.Parallel plots of pro-NASA incumbent POTUS vs opponent who wants NASA to become a private, for profit agency (with many aerospace dollars in his campaign war chest)---and the discovery of scientific proof of life beyond Earth make the pages fly by. While under fire for lack of achievement and overspending, a NASA satellite detects a meteor buried in the arctic...It is said to contain fossils verifying life existed elsewhere. President Herney wants certainty---sends a team of independent specialists to authenticate before announcing the find. One expert is Rachel Sexton, intelligence community liaison to POTUS. She questions the Ph.D. specialists with "what ifs"---and it appears that a scientific hoax has been executed. Whoever is behind the subterfuge is willing to wipe out the entire team of specialists to protect the lie with a Delta Force squad. Tension, suspense, action and good old-fashioned skullduggery propel the flight to elude the assassins and uncover the mastermind behind the conspiracy. With the findings of the latest (August, 2003) NASA investigations, it is remarkable how prophetic Dan Brown's fictional NASA is to the real thing.
Rating: Summary: Tom Clancy mixes with Michael Critchton Review: Deception Point is the first book I read from Dan Brown, because of the name lists on bestseller for Da Vinci Code. With some what higher expectation, this book does not disappointed me at all. This proves Dan to be a top writer in several ways: - this is an easy to read book. The major two plots - the war about the next president between two characters, and the certifying of a meteorite in Artic by 4 civilian experts, interweave closely and parallelly throughout the book. There are many characters involved but with such a good writing skill by Mr. Brown, the characters are clearly developed, and background histories are disclosed in detail. The reader will never get lost in the complex and air-tight story. - it blends (successfully) both political conspiracy story and scientific story together, and with a very good success. The war between President Herney and Senator Sexton is not complicate, but sure full of twists and surprises. You will never know who's the winner until the very end. On the scientic discovery of the meteorite, it is just like reading a Crichton book that is full of interesting theories and knowledges. To a lessor extent, there are also love and action elements, making this a very entertaining book to read. I will definitely add Dan Brown on my "must read" list.
Rating: Summary: A thriller which defines thriller... Review: I have a strong belief, no matter what Dan Brown writes, it will always be good! With that said, "Deception Point" did not disapoint, however at the same time it did not amaze like his other stunning thrillers. I read his books in a semi backwards sequence, starting with "Angels & Demons" and then reading "The Da Vinci Code", followed by this book. I was so used to his writing in his last two novels, a politically based thrilller seemed out of the ballpark for Brown. But as mentioned before, he really beats most of his fellow writers in this genre. The story has it's fair share of holes, however at the same time it shares many glorious moments as well. Brown has a knack for excellent character development, making every person in the story a part of you by the time you're done reading. This novel at times can seem far - fetched and unrealistic, but the research that was done for this and all of his books makes it some how believable nonetheless. The only change in "Deception Point" which made me a little upset was that I felt the ending would be more potent, more unbelievable. In reality, the shocking ending came 100 pages too soon. This book recieves only four stars when compared to his other stellar books, but would easily recieve a five star rating if I had never read a Brown thriller before. I am still however utterly in love with "Angels & Demons" and am always speechless when talking about it. Go out and read any Brown book, it's well worth it!!
Rating: Summary: Long trip to nowhere. Review: Might appeal to some for lots of sciencey stuff; however, he spins his wheels too much. Scores of short redundant chapters. And just not a terribly stimulating premise.
Rating: Summary: Spectacular! Brilliant! A Real Page Turner Review: Unbelievably good. Out-Crichtons Michael. Out-Clanceys Tom. What a brillliant mind. First Dan Brown builds a fantastic hypothesis and then slowly undoes it. This man should work for the CIA, he is such a brain! This is a terrific story about how NASA falls on its own sword. The characters are well drawn, the women especially. The inside workings of politics is a fun story. How can one writer know so much? One of the best thrillers I have read in several years. Every chapter is a cliff-hanger. When a NASA satellite in the Arctic discovers a meteorite buried deep in a glacier, the foundering Agency grabs the publicity to save it from being voted out of existence by dollar-hungry senators and representatives. The president is also in need of a something to boost his sagging polls. This looks like the life-saver, until it begins to look like a gigantic hoax. And on top of that, someone is willing to kill, and does murder several scientists, in orer to prevent exposure. You won't be able to put this down, once you start it. A high-concept novel, yet thoroughly believeable.
Rating: Summary: This is an above-average book . . . Review: . . . but 3.5 stars is not an option. The good - you won't be able to resist the plot. This book moves fast. Brown spins a yarn that you just have to pull from the sweater to see where it leads. The bad - Hmmm. It isn't exactly realistic. If you're looking for Tom Clancy, this ain't it. It doestand above Clive Cussler's books on the realism scale but then again, so does Harry Potter at times. :) Do I recommend it? Yes. Is it the best novel ever? No. Another book like this that I recommend - similar speed & government/military/technology thriller - is 'Icefire' by the Reeves-Stevens team.
Rating: Summary: A page-turner, but disappointing Review: I picked this book up for a plane trip, and it was an OK page-turner with one cliff-hanger after another but was mostly disappointing, especially after The DaVinci Code, which has its flaws but overall is a superior thriller. Books like this are fantasies, but the authors need to get some things right. Some details in Brown's book were wrong, and the atmosphere and tone were off. The impression is that Brown confined his research to the internet and maybe some books, so he picked up some details, but also got other details wrong and lacked a real sense of place. One small thing, but it was jarring: Brown has a character in a taxicab in Washington, DC, with the meter running. DC doesn't have a meter system. Fares are set by zones on a map. This makes me wonder whether Brown ever has spent much time in DC. His description of political processes in DC also is wrong in many details and doesn't show the level of understanding he would have gotten from regularly reading political news in any major US newspaper. The most jarring thing, though, is how gullible he makes some supposedly sophisticated and smart scientists. His whole plot depends on their gullibility. I'm not a scientist, but a supposedly astonishing discovery at the start of the book drives all the action that follows. From the very beginning, there were some obvious questions about the discovery, but these world-class scientists didn't think to ask them. Real scientist are skeptical, probing, and contrarian. But not Brown's characters, and that really was inexplicable. So I made it to the end of this book, but never really managed to suspend disbelief.
Rating: Summary: Many Points of Deception Review: Unlike many other novels that require initial warm up chapters, Deception Point grabs readers' heart from page one and immediately sets the tone for fast pace and intense reading. 133 chapters that take you every different direction makes the plot and the ending impossible to predict until chapter 132. This novel contains several deception points, as far as I'm concerned, that I'm curious to find out which point of deception the author meant when he gave this title. It is fascinating the way the author deceives the characters and the readers.
Rating: Summary: Starts good and gets better but ends poorly. Review: No spoiler herein. Dan Brown is a skilled author and this is no attack on him. The book is entertaining and I had trouble putting it down after the half way mark. However, I began to sense Dan's person politic persuasion with regards to America's two major political parties. Towards the end of the book, when the riddles are being solved - it becomes more and more uncomfortable for those readers that hold opposite political beliefs from Mr. Brown. Those that hold allegance to Dan's political party will love the conclusion. Those that hold opposite political beliefs will feel cheated and frustrated. Notice that I am not attacking DAn's story telling ability - it is terrific. Actually, I'd love to read another one of Dan's books - but I will make sure it doesn't contain personal political contamination before I buy.
Rating: Summary: cliched heroine Review: I could repeat what many have already said about how interesting and thrilling this novel is, but that would be repetative. I will simply say that I gave it less than a perfect review because Brown did the same thing so many authors do..made the female beautiful like that is a prerequisite for being brilliant. Just Once I wish an author would trust his/her audience to judge a character on their depth and not have to make then "Eye turning" beautiful. It is such a cliche and hurts every book that contains this stock female character. How many booms ahve you read where the female co-star walks into a restaurant and all eyes turn to gawk at her beauty. Enough already!
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