Rating: 
Summary: A good way to spend a rainy weekend
Review: In Enigma Harris cleverly builds a whodunnit around a framework of the technicalities of code breaking, with
a little romance thrown in. If you enjoy good old-fashioned
'how we won the war' stuff combined with mystery, romance,
and ingenuity then read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Solid writing--great plot
Review: ENIGMA' by Robert Harris, is a mix of history and fiction blended nicely together to make a very interesting book. The story takes place during World War II, before the United States entered the war. During this period, the German's had a type of code, called 'Shark' by England's cyptoanalysis teams, which was used to send coded messages to and from German U-boats. The story is about the English cryptoanologists that attempt to crack this code and how they go about doing it. The main character of the story is Tom Jericho, who is a math nerd, and has no life outside of math, crossword puzzles and chess. He also has a girlfriend named Claire Romilly who is also a cryptoanologist. While they are working to crack the code, the English find that there is a leak in their team that has been giving information to the Germans. Tom and Claire are both suspects, but Claire is much more so. During the course of the story, Tom tries to clear her name while, at the same time, trying to crack the German code. This book is enjoyable because it includes so much factual information about World War II, and at the same time has two different plot lines that are both interesting and exciting. The reader will learn a lot about World War II from the English point of view, which is quite different from what we Americans think of the war. This book is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys reading about World War 2 or just wars in general. The writing is first rate, along the lines of Jackson McCrae's CHILDREN'S CORNER or possibly some of other of Harris's novels (think his POMPEII-no it's not about the volcano). So rather than just getting some page turner that's now well done, you get a pretty good literary piece also. ENIGMA should be on the top of your reading list.
Rating: 
Summary: A surprising literary novel
Review: Enigma is a surprising WWII spy novel that I enjoyed a lot, much more than Harris's Fatherland or Archangel. Enigma is a code used by Germany that they believe is unbreakable. Except the allies have broke it and are using to aid their war plans.
One day, the Germans change their code books and Thomas Jericho, the expert who broke Enigma the first time, is called back to work after having a nervous breakdown.
From there, the story follows Thomas and his codebreakers as they try and find the key to breaking Enigma and preventing the German u-boats from sinking Allied convoys coming across the Atlantic. Thomas is sidetracked in his pursuit by the mysterious Claire Romilly, a fellow codebreaker who he had an affair with and fell in love with and who subsequently dumped him. Claire has disappeared and Thomas joins her roommate Hester to try and find Claire and find the truth behind her mysterious actions.
This is a spy novel, not really an action story, so the story revolves around the characters and their feelings and relationships.
I have several comments about this book. Rarely do I find I enjoy a novel so much after not being too impressed by an author's previous works. But Enigma is far different and better than Fatherland or Archangel, and makes me definitely want to read Pompeii. Much of the story revolves around Claire Romilly, who never actually appears in the story except for a few brief flashbacks. Is she a spy, a traitor, dead or alive or missing. So many questions are thrown at you about this mysterious woman who captivated everyone he came in touch with.
This is a WWII novel based on actual events, but unlike others I've read, it keeps you reading to the very end because of the twists and turns. I was very satisfied at every turning point the novel took and Harris does a great job detailing the hows and whys of the mystery.
A quote on the cover says this novel is "literate" meaning I guess it is more than just an action thriller. As far as WWII novels go, this is one of the best.
Rating:
Summary: More dimension on history
Review: MR. Harris has served the interested reader well by fleshing out the circumstances surrounding the Enigma code machines of WWII. There is a wealth in this book of understood and well-explained procedure which the Brits used to crack the Nazi codes, handled with a mathematician's comprehension and a novelist's finesse. The characters who populate the novel are well-drawn anti-heros, all believable enough to smell them, and to feel their persistent discomfort in trying circumstances. The most stereotypically heroic figure is detestable. The oddness of the individuals who inhabited Bletchley Castle, where the codes were cracked, is well-delineated. When Winston Churchill visited Bletchley, he remarked that he had said to turn over every stone in search of geniuses, but hadn't expected to be taken literally. This book compares favorably with the best of John Le Carre. It is a relentlessly intelligent book.
Rating:
Summary: Classic nail-biting fiction
Review: This book is an amazing historical detective story: the German Enigma code has been cracked and the Allied forces are close to winning the crucial Battle of the Atlantic. Suddenly, the code is changed and it is obvious that there is a traitor in the midst. The code-cracking hero then finds that his girlfriend is missing, leaving incriminating evidence in her room...
Psychologically well-observed characters, particularly the hero, propel this book into classic nail-biting fiction. The battle of good and evil is played out on both the world stage and the personal one, ending with a race-against-time chase. This book is a beautifully-observed portrait of the rigors of war, the lack of glamour in the code-breaking world, and that old favorite - given a new twist here - the agony of unrequited love.
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