Digital Fortress

By: Dan Brown

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Before the multi-million, runaway bestseller The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown set his razor-sharp research and storytelling skills on the most powerful intelligence organization on earth—the National Security Agency (NSA)—in this thrilling novel, Digital Fortress.

When the National Security Agency’s invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant, beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage…not by guns or bombs but by a code so complex that if released would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Fletcher battles to save the agency she believes in. Betrayed on all sides, she finds herself fighting not only for her country but for her life. It is a battle for survival—a crucial bid to destroy a creation of inconceivable genius that threatens to obliterate the balance of world power…for all time.

©1998 Dan Brown (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“In this fast-paced, plausible tale, Brown blurs the line between good and evil enough to delight patriots and paranoids alike.” —Publishers Weekly

“Digital Fortress is the best and most realistic techno-thriller to reach the market in years... A chilling thrill a minute.” —The Midwest Book Review

"A disturbing, cutting-edge techno thriller that should galvanize everyone who sends or receives email or even dreams of navigating the Web." —John J. Nance, author of Pandora's Clock, The Last Hostage

digital fortress

Of all the dan brown novels other than the davinci code, I liked this one the best. This is a great one for people into computers and conspiracy theories. It is pretty full on the whole time. A great listen

digital fortress: coulda been better

Dan Brown can really tell a story that keeps you listening, and the concepts are great, really well thought out; finally the locations make the whole thing more enticing. But then he undermines his story with clunkers that are obvious to anyone who has been to the locales he describes (mountains near Paris for DaVinci code; why not look at an atlas for god's sake?).

In this case, he substitutes out dated cliches for reality in his description of Seville. Just a couple of points: In Digital Fortress, he has masses (pun semi-inentional) of people going to Church in Seville, a country supposedly more Catholic than the Vatican. A Betis football match maybe, but church hardly. Churches are far fuller in the US than in Spain, a country about to legalize gay marriage. Similarly, medical care is described as pathetic in Spain, but really it's about the same as the rest of Europe. I've had first hand experience at that. Trust me.

OK, I like Spain, and don't like to see the place trashed, but the real problem is that these inaccuracies just contribute to the sense that Americans don't know and don't care about what happens outside the US. If he'd just gone to Seville and poked around a bit for a couple of weeks, checking out what he was planning to describe, he would have been able to add more unexpected and realistic descriptions and added to the delight of the book rather than taking away from it.

Also, the narrator might have pronounced the Spanish a bit better. Hardly an exotic language.

Digital Fortress

The story ending was off, but overall I loved it. Performance was excellent. Well done.

An exceptional work of art.

listening to this book once is not enough, so I did it six times. love the narrator he brought out the true emotion of the writer's words.

Stereotypical characters

Suzanne the main female character was supposed to have a high IQ but the author never developed her intelligence.

On writing brilliant characters…

As usual, reviews of Audible books are broken into two categories…the writing, and the narration. First the narration. Excellent. In my opinion, the best narrators are the ones that are so seamless that you don’t even notice them and can immerse yourself in the book, and Paul Michael is like that.

Now the book: Dan Brown makes, in my opinion, two large mistakes in this book (large enough where they break through the suspension of disbelief). First he writes a “brilliant” person, and then makes her the dumbest person in the room. She continually has to have things explained to her, often in a painstakingly step-by-step manner. I’m talking about things so simple and obvious that even this reader has figured them out.

The second big mistake is that if the government made some crypto device so wonderful as to be able to break any codes, the very first thing they would do is build another one….no matter how much it costs (oh, and he keeps referring to the 2 Billion dollar price take like it is some huge price tag).

That all being said, I think this book warrants at least a couple of stars. The romance portion of the book was well done. One extra star for the excellent narration.

Very Thought Provoking

Really enjoyed the book. A little more conspiracy theory in this one. Gets you wondering what our government might be up to.

Great

Well read, great story, tough to turn off. There was so much buzz about the da Vinci code, that this book was hidden. I'm just glad I found it

Riviting and Exciting

Would you consider the audio edition of Digital Fortress to be better than the print version?

I don't know?

What was one of the most memorable moments of Digital Fortress?

When the lights went out.

What about Paul Michael’s performance did you like?

Spellbinding at times.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was enthralled.

Any additional comments?

Great book. Great listening experience.

#GreatAuthor

I love this author and this is a thrilling book. It kept my interest throughout and I can't wait to read another one of his books.