Digital Fortress

By: Dan Brown

Narrated by: Bruce Sabath

Length: 6 hrs and 38 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 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

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)
"Exciting...will rivet cyber-minded readers." (Booklist)

Maybe it was the abriged version

This is my least favorite of Brown's books. Maybe it was the abridged version but I honestly got bored with it. If you have read all the other Dan Brown books, skip this one.

Boring

Drawn-out writing, I found myself fast forwarding through many parts of the book just to get past the droning narrative.

Many inaccuracies

Just like Divinci code the inaccuracies were very distracting. Dan Brown couldn't even get the difference between Bits and Bytes. He talks about a 64 Bit "pass key" inscribed on the ring and then soon after refers to it as a 64 character "pass key" (should have said 8 characters to be even plausible). It really makes me believe the folks that are starting to write books about the inaccuracies of Divinci Code.

digital fortress

Another excellent book

Intriguing Concept, but lacking in craft

Dan Brown's blockbuster, Da Vinci Code, took some heat for the improbable leaps and incredible coincidences that are so important to the plot, and of course, the inaccuracies. But that book survives.
Digital Fortress seems like a practice draft by a writer who is learning to put things together. It evokes many of the same complaints and, unlike DVCode, Brown's craft in this novel is simply not up to the task of smoothing over the problems. Far too many times, the right person or item just happens to show up where the hero needs them.
And then there are those pesky inaccuracies and misalignments -- the deaf assassin who hears the names of his victims is one head-scratcher.
This is too bad, because the basic idea is very fine and the major twists in the plot work well. There are just too many "oh, not again!" moments for my taste.
This is a good example of a talented beginner's work. Invention rates high. Craft is almost non-existent.

The narrator should consider a typing job.....

As far as the quality of the audiobook itself, the narrator of this title shold be fired and given a job in a field that does not require speaking. My opinion is that the story, thin as it is, is ruined by the narrator and his lack of ability to adquately portray each charachter. At times, the sound of his voice made the book seem endless. Only sheer force of will kept me listening. The story is decent, if thin. There is so much more that could have been done with it. Easily identified as one of Dan Brown's earlier books. Nowhere near the depth of The Da Vinci Code.

not very good

This book had me screaming at my radio. How could people who were so smart be so dense? I had things figured out way before them. It might have been better unabridged, but I wouldn't want to waste any more time. Narrator was nothing to write home about either.

Preditable and irritatingly stupid

What would have made Digital Fortress better?

This is the most formulaic piece of writing I've ever encountered. It was so predictable that I became irritated with the ineptitude and stupidity of the supposedly brilliant characters. By the time the final denouement came I was yelling at them because the answer was too obvious for anyone who had passed 5th grad.e

What was most disappointing about Dan Brown’s story?

Predictable and far too much coincidence for reality.

What about Bruce Sabath’s performance did you like?

Does lovely voices for each character.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

From someone like Dan Brown this was incredibly disappointing and frustrating.

does it ever end?

First let me say excellent reader!

Too bad they did not have better material. This was exciting up until the end, whichh took 1.5 hoours to resolve itself. It was all climax then CHOP its done. I am very disappointed in its lack of brightness. Not very clever Mr. Brown so who REALLY wrote the Davinci Code? DaVinci himself? ;-)