Rating: 
Summary: Top pick for engineer, manager, programmer
Review: Enigma is a VERY intelligent book. On surface it is a typical spy novel, but in reality it is more than that.
First, the book gives rare glimpses into mental process of superb problem solver - Tom Jericho, a young mathematician recruited to break German Shark code. Jericho had and "extra 2%" of talent. What exactly those 2% are? It is Jericho's ability to see Shark code not as a separate system of scrambled symbols, but as an integral part of larger system (e.g. German military communication system). The broader vision allowed Jericho to find elegant and simple ways to break code. Harris' description of Jericho's efforts is captivating.
Second, Guy Logie, a head of cryptanalysts and Jericho's boss, deserves a closer look for his low-key, effective leadership under extreme pressure. Harris gave a lively description of Logie's no-nonsense strategies to achieve respect of his most problematic and creative subordinate Tom Jericho. The story of their strange friendship is more useful to read than many books on management.
Third, none of the characters in the book were moved by purely altruistic motives. The author structured a web of personal hidden agendas, fears, passions and insecurities into realistic psychological background.
All in all, Enigma is a top pick for those, who love solidly conceived plot with refined details.
Rating:
Summary: started slowly
Review: i agree with some other reviewers that this book started slowly, perhaps the first 50 pages. However, beyond that stage, the story becomes very exciting and i am glad that i kept on with the book. I look forward to watching the movie and believe that this book is perfect for a sequal.
Rating:
Summary: Really entertaining read
Review: i grabbed this book before heading out the door for a business trip. it made for great reading on flights and late at night in my hotel room. i found the story to be interesting and well paced. as has been stated, this is a great mystery set against the historic backdrop of the WWII code-breakers in bletchley park. these guys were true heroes that in many cases, never saw the light of day, let alone a battlefield, yet were responsible for saving countless lives. i also feel the need to chime in on this (as have other reviewers): if you enjoy this book, take a look at neal stephenson's cryptonomicon. it's a large volume, but well worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS XLIH BOOK YHWQ ISOK XXXX (Code for
Review: LET me start off by saying that if I was a cryptanalyst in the midst of World War II who spent day after day tackling codes, working with bombes and hunting for cribs, I probably would have loved this book. But since I am a thirty-year old attorney whose most intimate contact with codes consists of the back of a cereal box, this book left a little to be desired. SHORTLY after being introduced to Tom Jericho, the book's protagonist, the reader is thrust into the world of a cryptanalyst - one whose entire life revolves around breaking the German code called "Shark." The problem for the reader starts immediately as the decoding process is inadequately described. Not nearly enough detail is given to the intricacies of the Enigma device used to create the Shark code. Worse yet, the "explanations" of this process often includes series of jumbled letters which serve to explain the significance of each aspect of translation. I was unable to ever connect the explanations with the process itself. Sadly, the breaking of various codes is significant in both plotlines and consequently takes away from the flow of the book. IN short, Jericho has returned to Bletchley - to his job as a cryptanalyst - for the purpose of breaking Shark a second time as the Germans mysteriously realized that the British had broken the original code. The plot is interesting (and makes for a good story), but unfortunately character development is weak. When the mystery unfolds at the end of the book - I realized that I knew hardly anything about the villain or his motivation. I had to go back and reread about this particular character to determine whether I should have known more than I did. Fortunately, the entire mystery is explained in the final chapters, but I was disappointed that in a book about code-breaking, I was never given the opportunity to crack the case on my own. I recommend that you pay close attention to everyone in Jericho's life. AS plotline one reaches its peak, it becomes exciting - particularly as Harris describes the U-boat activity as they approach conveys of British and American ships. The cryptanalysts find themselves fighting a battle that cannot really be won. "Success" will result in devastating consequences. Overall, I enjoyed this plot. PLOTLINE two is altogether different. Jericho is pining away for Claire who disappeared upon his return to Bletchley. He meets and befriends her roommate - Hester - as they search for Claire and learn more about the dark secrets she kept prior to her disappearance. Harris' talent shines through more clearly in this plot. His description of the interaction between Jericho and Claire, Claire and Hester and Jericho and Hester is excellent. The reader soon realizes that this story is literally separate from the other series of events described above. The surprise ending is worth the wait. OVERALL, I would give this book three and a half stars - primarily because of the poor character development and (perhaps perhaps my own ignorance of) the complexity of the codebreaking process. I do, however, look forward to reading Fatherland in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Realistic and gripping
Review: I happened to see the movie "Enigma" and liked it enough that I bought the book. I would put the story in the same category of thrillers such as "Day of the Jackal" and "The Eagle Has Landed." It shares the same qualities as those books. It is a suspenseful story grounded in reality with real people as opposed to supermen or superwomen as the protagonist. I would only caution that this book is not "quick read." If you want to understand the cryptanalysis as well as the espionage, reading at a deliberate, thoughtful pace is well-advised. I hope that Harris does a sequel involving the two major characters who were the protagonists of the story. I can't wait for the movie to be released on DVD!
Rating:
Summary: Almost a mystery
Review: "Fatherland" was an excellent book, and I was expecting good things from this work, also. Having read it, I can say that it was enjoyable reading, but certainly not as entertaining as its predecessor. The story line about cracking the Enigma code is fairly interesting, but it's not enough to sustain the suspense in the novel. The author has invented a mystery, of sorts, but it's so well-hidden that you're almost half way or more through the book before you realize that there is another story line going on in addition to the code cracking. It's difficult to muster up enough interest in the "missing" blonde to keep the reader going, but the writing is crisp and that makes up for a lot of the disappointments about the book. If you want to know something about the Enigma machines and how the codebreakers helped in the war effort, read this book. If you're looking for a good mystery, this isn't the one for you.
Rating:
Summary: Average Effort
Review: I think he has put out much better books and this one was the first to really disappoint me. The book is an average book, but I had just read Fatherland so this one was a let down. The story was interesting and could have been one of the first major attempts to take on the code breaking by the UK in WW 2. The staples of a Harris book are there, a great cast that you get to know, a well thought out story etc, I just came into the book expecting too much. The author also tried to go down the path of the "dark, brooding" lead and he did not pull it off. Overall, not that great of a book. There are many others out there that are better.
Rating:
Summary: Has 500 thrilling climaxes!
Review: To quote the old cliche "I could not put this down!" It was intriguing, with its insight into the world of cryptography in World War 2. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Intersting mystery, even though the "theme" was old
Review: I found this a harder book to wade through than Fatherland.
I suppose this was partially due to a darker tone to the book, maybe this was imparted by the fact that much of the book take's place in the middle of the night. I am sure another aspect was that the some of the subject matter was a bit redundant to me, having recently finished the lenghty tome Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I was also put off by the now familiar, having read FatherLand and Archangel previously, literary and thematic twist that Harris employs of couching the revealation of historical pogroms and monstrostisties as the cause of the books mystery. All of these three books employ this same device, so that by the end of Enigma I was not that surprised by the historical cause of the "enigma". Having said all of that, I did enjoy the book, especially the insight into the accomplishments of Bletchley Park as well as the mystery Claire's dissapearance. I guess it was just not as enjoyable as Fatherland, and it was probably a mistake to tear through three of his books in so short a time period.
Rating:
Summary: Communicates the Challenges, Captures the Thrill
Review:
For captivating true life signals intelligence there are several books one can go to, including those by James Bamford on the American system (Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets) but for really getting into the enormity of the challenges and the thrill of the individual code-breakers when they succeeded, this is the book I recommend.
It completely ignores the enormous contributions made by the Poles (who gave the English two Enigma machines at the beginning of the war) as well as the heroic deeds of Tommy Brown (youngest George Medal winner at 16, survived with code materials taken from a sinking German ship), but I have found no better novel to communicate the absolute goose-bump emotional roller-coaster that the Bletchley Park gang experienced.
If anything, this novel convey a human side to code-breaking that offsets the modern-day obsession with massive computers.
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