Rating: 
Summary: Just your standard techo-thriller...
Review: While the premise of this first novel is interesting, the pacing and plotting has more than its share of flaws. Once again the reader is in a world of incredibly beautiful, brainy women who love incredibly strong, handsome,adventure-seeking men with lots of (surprisingly obvious) villians trying hard to keep them apart while placing the future of the free world in jeopardy. The novels characters could have been taken out of stock footage from every Patricia Cornwell-Dean Kootz-Jeffery Archer book on the market. Note to future writers: let's get some CHARACTER into these characters. If you're a fan of the kind of novel in which ridiculous coincidence follows ridiculous coincidence, you will probably enjoy Digital Domain. It's tough to root for characters, however, when every clue, lead, witness and opportunity fall conveniently into the heroes' laps. The book becomes totally uninvolving by its second half, and most readers will be able to guess the surprise ending one hundred pages before it's revealed. Best bet is to wait until Keanu Reeves and Elizabeth Shue make the movie!
Rating: 
Summary: Technical, Gripping, A Good Read
Review: A cross between sc-fi & murder mystery, but with the twist that it is not sc-fi. Well, except to those of us who are barely computer literate. I enjoyed this book and found myself staying up way past my bedtime to finish the last one third of the book. Characters: Susan--interesting, warm, trusting/ David--intelligent, quick on his toes, and had the best chapters in the book/ Strathmore--strong, but could have been developed better; didn't care enough about him to be shocked at his antics/ Midge--potentially a memorable character. In many ways this is a real possibility for a movie. It moves fast and will be an action movie that is for the good listener--no car chases or automatic weapons needed. My only real disappointment was that there were no indications about the connection between the Japanese business owner and the programmer. That seems to be a missed opportunity. Glad I read Dan Brown's first work. Looking forward to a second with more defined characters and the details that make you "love" the book. This was a "liked it."
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, technically flawed, but strangely likable.
Review: I was very excited to start this novel, as it was billed as "smart" and "real." I was hoping to finally read something that portrayed the world of software and computer security as it really is. However, what I got was pretty much the standard Hollywood-style depiction of computers. You know what I mean: user interfaces that consist of big, blinking words and accept commands like "abort destruct sequence"; computer viruses that somehow magically jump from data to code and start executing; network firewalls that have Atari Breakout (or Breakin, I guess) to display hackers on the attack. Please. But I can suspend disbelief. After the first 30 or so glaring technical errors, I decided I *had* to if I wanted to finish the book. The trouble is that Dan Brown apparently had some 14-year-old wannabe hacker as his technical advisor. It seems like every other time Brown tries to make a real technical reference, it's slightly askew. Like his constant reference to X-eleven. Or a patronizing (but incorrect) description of Public-Key crypto systems. Or referring to PGP as a cryptographic algorithm. OK, I said I can suspend my disbelief. I did. What's left is a fine Ken Follett or Patrica Cornwell adventure. Until the climax, when the final answer is painfully obvious, and a room full of crypto-geniuses are standing around, and not figuring it out. This drags on for chapters, until you think Brown must have had some minimum page count to fulfill for the publisher. It certainly can't be intended to increase the suspense. Despite all this, I couldn't help liking the story. Maybe it just appeals to my own vanity as a programmer. But I generally like Brown's style, and I definitely will buy his next book. I just hope he gets some better technical support.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read
Review: Was hard to put this one down. Nice surprise ending, and a premise that is only too possible considering our current sociopolitical situation.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable, yet soemetimes predictable book
Review: I do not read much, but when I do I like to be sure it is something fun. Digital Fortress does this, but lets me down in a way too. The premise of the plot is an excellent one, but the book has way too many flaws. Like most other "cyber-thrillers" I've read, the computer technology is grossly overstated and twisted into James Bond like proportions. I began to really care less about the battle over encryption, and instead enjoyed David Beckers tough luck. Reading about this poor guy run circles around a bumbling assassin made the book alone worth my time to read. The characters seem pretty realistic, I could imagine a few people I knew like the ones portrayed. Overall, worth your time to read if you're looking for an enjoyable action novel. I also reccomend William H. Lovejoys "Back\Slash" if you enjoy this type of genre.
Rating:
Summary: Where's the beef?
Review: This story consists of 2 highly staged dramas, each taking place in its own setting. Two scenes doesn't make for a great thriller. I found the storyline to be thin. In particular, unraveling the "code" at the end of the book was as tough as deciphering "Voyager" from "V-ger" in Star Trek: The Movie. I do not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Buy more Postage Stamps!
Review: Because after reading "Digital Fortress" you'll definitely want to switch from E-mail to US Mail! Seriously - I found the book to be an exceptional first effort. The storyline is frightening [and more than likely already going on!]. The characters were a little rough, and they seemed to have a hard time remembering just how smart they were supposed to be - and I thought making every scene change a chapter (128 of them) was definitely overkill - but all in all it's really an excellent story. The plot twists and turns exery which way - the minute you think you have a handle on it, it evolves into something else. I had a little trouble getting into the book, probably because I was unfamiliar with Mr. Browns style of writing, but after the first 50 or so pages I found it almost impossible to put the book down! As mentioned in a lot of the other reviews - there are errors in this novel. Susan who supposedly is so smart - really proves to be "slow" at times - dare I say "dense"! And David - David should confine himself to being a teacher! He is not cut out for 'hero' status at all! But Strathmore - the writing that concerned him was at times jerky, but he was definitely the classic bad guy. Very good character development on this one. The assassin was obviously myopic - which explains why he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn at 5 paces - but that was never explained while much was made of the fact he was deaf! The other characters were to one-dimensional for my taste. A few extra pages devoted to their development would have greatly enhanced the story, especially where Midge, Brinkerhoff, Jabba and Fontaine were concerned. Summary: "Digital Fortress" is not perfect - but I think it's a "must read" (except when you're trying to fall asleep - then you better choose another book - 'cause this one "will" keep you awake!) I've added it to my collection, and I look forward to other novels by Dan Brown joining it in the [hopefully] near fu! ture!
Rating:
Summary: Worth the read!!
Review: The story line kept building right up to the last page. I was very impressed with the style of writing. There was a great deal of technology that he explained in a way that did not put one to sleep. It flowed with the story. The characters were well written. Although there was a main character, every character worked to accomplish the task; a team effort. Nice to know that one person does not "save the world" type of deal here. Definitely worth picking up and reading it.
Rating:
Summary: I liked it.
Review: First of all, you must remember that this is fiction. I've seen many reviewers complain about the technological accuracy or whatever in this book. Remember: it is fiction, written by an english teacher. Keep that in mind and you could enjoy the book. It has an interesting plot and lots of action. The sequences in Spain are humorous. Sure the characters are a little underdeveloped and certain aspects of the plot are ludicrous, but it is an enjoyeable read. Mind candy. I just can't believe that nobody has heard of the NSA. I've known about them since I was a little kid. My biggest problem with the book is the code at the end, which I can't seem to figure out (I guess cryptology isn't my area).
Rating:
Summary: ABSOLUTELY EDGE OF YOUR SEAT READING!
Review: A real page turner for those late nighters. It was one of those books that were hard to put down. Dan Brown's writing makes you care about the characters and the twists and turns of the tightly written plot will not leave you bored but wanting more. Dan! Hurry up with your next book! Can hardly wait.
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