Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Title:

Digital Fortress

Author:

Dan Brown

Setting:

Spain

Characters:

Dave Becker

Susan Fletcher

Ensei Tankado

Trevor Strathmore

Introduction:

"NSA cryptographer Susan Fletcher is told that their powerful code breaking machine, TRANSLTR, has encountered a code it cannot break. The code is written by a former NSA employee, Ensei Tankado, who demands that the US government admits publicly to having the TRANSLTR. If not, he will release the code that TRANSLTR can't break, thus making the code breaking machine useless.

Fletcher's fiancée, professor David Becker, is sent to Spain to collect Ensei Tankado's belongings. Tankado has died from a heart attack, and Becker has to find the pass-key to unlock the code before someone else does.

Susan Fletcher, David Becker and NSA Commander Trevor Strathmore try to find the pass-key, and at the same time they have to keep the threat a secret from the rest of the world."

Plot:

"Susan is one of the top Code breakers at the NSA. She monitors the use of the code breaking machine that can break all codes in less than 3 hrs and is used by all forms of US intelligance. She is called in when a program is still running after 12+ hrs. At the same time her fiance is sent to Spain to try and locate the "key" to stopping the release of a code program that will allow the NSA to break codes that Digital Fortress (the encrypting program) is used to protect. In Spain it becomes clear that someone is out to keep the key safe as people who have come in contact with it are killed.
The story follows the progress to not only figuring out who has planted the code but how to keep it from letting the world into the NSA files."
"The National Security Agency (NSA) is one setting for this exciting thriller; the other is Seville, where on page 1 the protagonist, lately dismissed from NSA, drops dead of a supposed heart attack. Though dead, he enjoys a dramaturgical afterlife in the form of his computer program. Digital Fortress creates unbreakable codes, which could render useless NSA's code-cracking supercomputer called TRANSLTR, but the deceased programmer slyly embossed a decryption key on a ring he wore. NSA cryptology boss Trevor Strathmore dispatches linguist Dave Becker to recover the ring, while he and Becker's lover, senior code-cracker Susan Fletcher, ponder the vulnerability of TRANSLTR. In Seville, over-the-top chase scenes abound; meanwhile, the critical events unfold at NSA. In a crescendo of murder, infernos, and explosions. While letting the world believe that certain strong encryption algorithms are too mathematically complicated to break in a reasonable amount of time given current technology, the NSA (National Security Association) has developed a machine which can break anything- until a new unbreakable encryption algorithm is created by an individual with a grudge against the NSA. The NSA find themselves in a position of needing to intercept and destroy the algorithm before it can be released to the world and render their spying efforts useless. Along the way there are twists and turns and different individuals with different agendas to add some excitement to the story. "the NSA [National Security Agency, but so secret that it's also known as No Such Agency] lobbied fiercely against all new encryption software, insisting it crippled them and made it impossible for lawmakers to catch and prosecute the criminals. Civil rights groups cried foul, insisting the NSA shouldn't be reading their mail anyway. Encryption software kept rolling off the presses. The NSA had lost the battle--exactly as it had planned

Resolution:

"Information age terrorism is the topical subject of Brown's inventive debut thriller about a virtual attack on the National Security Agency's top-secret super computer, TRANSLTR. Although TRANSLTR is meant to monitor and decode e-mail between terrorists, the computer can also covertly intercept e-mail between private citizens. The latter capability drives former NSA programmer Ensei Tankado to paralyze TRANSLTR with Digital Fortress, a devious mathematical formula with an unbreakable code. Tankado then demands that the NSA publicly admit TRANSLTR's existence or he will auction Digital Fortress's pass-key to the highest bidder. Brown cleverly makes ironic, mischievous Tankado (who dies in the first chapter) the most interesting character in the book and its real protagonist, as the programmer posthumously outmaneuvers his opposition, countering their obsessive quest for complex solutions with brilliant simplicity. His favorite saying, "Who will guard the guards?" stands in noble contrast to the NSA agents self-righteous insistence that they always know what is best for America... In this fast-paced, plausible tale, Brown blurs the line between good and evil enough to delight patriots and paranoids alike."

Deception

Title: Deception

Author: Judith Michael

Setting: United States and Europe

Characters:

Stephanie

Sabrina

Garth Anderson

Theme:

The Story have included sharp and witty insights and observations in several of the novel's scenarios. Would you change places with your twin sibling? If you'd ask Sabrina Longworth, the one half of the duo protagonist team of DECEPTIONS, she'd probably say not on your life. She'd also say that having tried it more than once, thanks to the imagination of Judith Michael's Judith Barnard and Michael Faine, she lived to regret it, big time. Indeed, faith has a strange way of throwing a curveball when least expected. Especially to this fictitious bunch whose lives make for a pretty decent time-waster read despite the been there seen that plotline. Just go to show you that originality comes in small doses. Just simmer it in creativity and punchy dialogue, and you've got yourself one hot bestseller that is as juicy as a pack of Doublemint gum. What if you not only had a twin, but decided one day to trade places... just for a little while. What begins as a lark for sisters Stephanie and Sabrina quickly turns into so much more in this surprisingly satisfying read in which, perhaps not surprisingly, we are taught to be grateful for what we have for the grass is not always greener on the other side. For most of us, the perhaps unconscious thrill lies in the story of Stephanie, the twin whose life in suburbia has become almost stifling, especially when compared to that of her exotic, exciting twin sister, Lady Sabrina Longworth. Quicker than you can say, "Hey, what if we traded places?" Stephanie is living the high life, while Sabrina is trading cocktail parties for backyard bar-b-ques. This is classic Judith Michael, who for several years stirred the imagination by taking classic cases of "what if" and spun them into fanciful, frothy books. "What if... you won the lottery?" (Pot Of Gold) "What if... you found out that your newly deceased husband had a rich, secret family he never told you about?" (A Ruling Passion) But with Deceptions, the novel that started it all, the authors crafted perhaps their best "what if" scenario by playing on a theme nearly every one of us has pondered at one time or another. Those looking for a good time could do a whole lot worse than to spend their summer with Stephanie and Sabrina!

Learn about the strong bond between identical twins, Sabrina and Stephanie, and how they developed into two different women leading two different lives. We become immersed in Sabrina's exclusive world of London high society, antique dealerships, and exquisitely designed townhouses. Her more brazen personality allows her to survive quite nicely and make astute dealings among London's elite. Stephanie lives more obscurely in a small university town in the States with her professor husband, Garth. Their domestic, suburban life with their two children and supportive neighbors is surprisingly realistic and at times endearing. The major premise is that the sisters tire of the complications in their lives and decide to switch places. The novel is well structured as the reader flows from Stephanie's adjustment to Sabrina's jet-set life while Sabrina brings her strength and determination to life as a suburban professor's wife. This is definitely escape literature, but an intelligent read. If you enjoy reading good descriptions of the finer things in life and excellent character development, this book comes highly recommended.

Summary:

"Sabrina and Stephanie Longworth are twins. Sabrina married a wealthy English aristocrat and divorced him. She now runs a successful antiques business in London. Stephanie married Garth Anderson, a scientist and university professor. She stays at home in the suburbs with their two children and envies her sister's jet set lifestyle. Stephanie's desire for a more exciting life is putting a strain on her marriage.

Stephanie gets Sabrina to switch places so she can have some fun but does not want Garth to know. Garth did not like Sabrina when he met her and thinks she is the cause of Stephanie's dissatisfaction with her life. Sabrina quickly adjusts to Stephanie's home life, and gets to know and like Garth. Stephanie finds she is good at the antiques business. But just before they are to switch back, Sabrina breaks her leg and the deception has to continue. Stephanie does not mind because she has started an affair with one of Sabrina's friends. Nor is Stephanie upset when Sabrina confesses she could not say no when Garth wanted to make love. The longer Sabrina lives with Garth, the more she falls in love with him. Garth feels like he is falling in love with his wife all over again as she takes an interest in his work and encourages his dreams instead of wanting him to make more money.

Then Stephanie is killed when her lover's yacht explodes. Sabrina cannot bring herself to tell Garth it was really Stephanie and she tries to carry on the deception because she loves Garth too much to have him leave her once he learns the truth."

Resolution:

This book was first published in 1982. This is a very satisfying story with several unpredictable plot twists. The premise of the story, identical twins switching lives for a week, seems sort of contrived until the author actually immerses us into their new roles, challenges, and emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, staying up extra late at night because I didn't want to put it down.
When I read Deceptions, I thought it was going to be a sappy-love story. Generally, all love stories have a sappiness; Deceptions was no different. Although, I loved it. It was very enthralling, and it told the story well by developing the characters so you could almost smell and feel the same things they did. I enjoyed Sabrina Longworth's passionate personality, and her sister's loving qualities; but the real story laid with Garth Anderson. He was Stephanie’s husband, and he had two children with her. The fact was that Sabrina and Garth met once and strongly disliked each other, but when Sabrina and Stephanie play on Garth with the deception--- they fall in love. A bit predictable, only you expect the story to lie with Stephanie and not Sabrina. Without Stephanie’s smaller, and not as developed life-style in Sabrina's world, you wouldn't be able to laugh at all the odd mishappenings that go on within the book. When Sabrina and Garth begin to fall in love, (Garth re-falling in love with his wife who seemed dead for so many years, and Sabrina falling in love with Stephanie’s husband) it's comical. It was fun to read about this odd circle the Authors developed. The two sisters, living in swapped worlds, and two men who don't know or care that they are not sleeping with the woman they think--- or for that matter, married to the woman they think. Stephanie kept messing everything up, and Sabrina kept trying to fix it. Then there was Garth who really was just going with it, blind to the obvious deception in front of him. My only objection to how these two people write, the husband and wife team of Judith Michael, is that it is free with swearing and intimacies. All in all, it was a rare, sappy love story, with an intricate plot that had it all: humor, love, and a well developed story back ground. It's well worth the time to read, and it won't take you long because it is so enthralling. Deceptions is the type of book that is just hard to put down at two-thirty in the morning, knowing you have five hours before you get up to work the next day; it's the type of book you keep saying: another chapter, and I swear I'll go to bed.

Darkness by John Saul

The small town of Villajeune, Florida is privy to a deep, dark secret. Babies die, children disappear and those that don't are haunted by nightmares of The Dark Man, who invades their thoughts, controls their minds and steals their souls.
So begins "Darkness" from John Saul. While not necessarily a typical horror story, or typical John Saul, I find the story to be engrossing and very quickly got hooked. I found that the first half of the book was much better than the second, when too much was revealed too soon. Once the "truth" about The Dark Man and the town's "secret" came out, some of the mystery disappeared as well. While perhaps the story itself was highly unrealistic and the descriptions of the swamp and rundown shacks got a bit repetitive, I found the story good, entertaining fun. A solid read.

In the deepest part of the Florida swamps there is a crazy man who is stealing youth from "the dark children" and giving it to the men of the swamp to live forever. The babies are being kidnapped and given up to this crazy man as an offering of the purest evil. The son of the dark man and this punk girl who got away are the only ones who give the swamps a chance to overcome this evil. Upon this punk girls return, everything starts to get scary. She's tried to commit suicide because she keeps seeing this man in her dreams and in the mirrors behind her, but she dosen't understand any of it. When she returns to the Florida swamps she eerily knows her way around then and is not frightened by all the dangers within, though they could kill her or anyone else at any time. She has problems, her adoptive parents dont realize that she's been temporarily possessed, and she dosen't want to admit that she really does need help. Michael dosen't realize that he's in deeper than everyone else, that he's the only one who can start the cycle of rebirth to give the swamp children their youth back. The swamp holds evils, and evils that contain good. The women of the swamp hold the keys that everyone is looking for, but who will find them? Judd Duval and the old woman may not hold all the answers, in fact i assure you, there is much more to it than that.This book is filled with a lot of questions and suspense. You want to know what's going to happen long before you get to find out. John Saul is a matermind of horror, an incredible writer, and a genius in creating the fictional human mind. Once you pick this book up, i guarantee you'll have a hard time not staying up until two in the morning to finish it, it's incredible.

Kelly and her family had just moved from Atlanta to a small town in Florida called Villejeune where her adoptive parents, the Andersons, were originally from. Her parents took her to this little town to save her from the wild city that they thought caused Kelly to attempt suicide. What they did not know was that Kelly was seeing a dark man in her dreams and in the mirror. Kelly was afarid to tell her parents because she believed they would think she was crazy. Her parents took her to this nice quiet town without knowing that Kelly, along with all the newborn babies from the town, had her youth taken from her by the Dark Man. The Dark Man would take the youth of all these innocent children to conserve himslef and other men young forever. However, Kelly found a very special new friend that made her feel safe from the world and the Dark Man. Together they will fight against all those who took their youth from them to get it back. John Soul used very descriptive language in this thriller. It was easy for the reader to picture the scenes full of suspense throughout the novel. The author hooks the reader with his dynamic and exciting fiction. Darkness has very good qualities; however, it was too fictitious. If youth could be taken from children, everyone would be immortal, not only those who are evil.

-REVIEWS-

+ All I can say is that I loved this book along with all of his other books. I will probably read it again at some point. I am biased however since Saul is my favorite author of all time!

+ Well, I'm usually not one to complain about a story being unrealistic. I understand that good fiction often requires a little suspension of reality. But Darkness goes well beyond "a little" suspension of reality. This book is unbelievable almost to the point of being funny. I never really got sucked into the story. In part, because although I was able to picture the faces and places, the almost cartoonish story line meant it never seemed real, even in my imagination.

+ That being said, this book isn't horrible. It's average and that's about it. I'd like to give it 2.5 stars, but can't. There's a few twists. Most are pretty easy to see coming, but I don't think Saul was really intending to blindside you with them anyway. The end was a little disappointing, although I read worse.

+ Although Saul is not a great author, his books can often be suspenseful and entertaining. This book, however, is neither suspenseful or entertaining.

+ All my life I really nevered liked to read. I liked some books but not all filled me with interest, until one day I found a book with a interesting title.
It was a sunday morning and I went to a garage sale and I found the book Darkness, by John Saul. It sounded interesting so I bought it. It was just 1 dollar. I never heard of the author so I wanted to try it out and see if it was a good book.
Once I began reading the first page, my eyes glued to the book. The metaphors, description, and the horror, made the book so interesting and great.I never let go of the book. Its a shock because this is the only book that I actually enjoyed. This is my second time reading the book. I RECCOMEND EVERYONE TO READ THE BOOK. YOU'LL REALLY GET ADDICTED TO THE BOOK!

+ Although the underlying premise of this novel is rather ridiculous when you think about it, Saul manages to make the story work. It's not terribly thrilling or suspenseful, however. There is no surprise to be found in the conclusion because the clues to what mysteries this tale contains are glaringly obvious early on. Darkness is Saul's take on the old eternal life theme. While the Dark Man is rather creepy and mysterious early on, his true identity, purposes, and methods are revealed halfway through the book, leaving the reader with a long sprint toward a finish line of foregone conclusions. The medical and scientific aspects here are rather laughable, really, and a little inconsistent (not to mention somewhat disgusting) in the end.

+ The setting of the novel both helps and hurts it. Most of the action takes place in the Florida swamps, a setting I myself find quite unappealing (although Saul has tourists lining up to explore the dangerous, disgusting swamps, small children and babies in tow). It's certainly creepy, what with all the strange sounds and movements taking place in the dark shadows, not to mention alligators, crocodiles, water moccasins, and other deadly beasts roiling and slithering their way through all of the actions. I got a little tired of one individual after another getting lost and trying to find his/her way home in this ruthless environment, though. As soon as one person turned up, another ran out and got lost, starting the whole swamp search ordeal over again.

+ I can't voice my criticisms of the story without giving too much away. I will just say that this novel is much less believable than most of Saul's fiction. For that reason it didn't strike too strong of a chord in me personally; the fact that the main plot twists and ultimate conclusion were so obvious also left the novel incapable of truly grasping my complete attention and fascination. In less talented hands, this story could easily fail miserably because of its flimsy relationship with reality, but, as I said, John Saul makes it work. I was in no great hurry to reach the conclusion, but I also never felt compelled to toss the book aside without finishing it. If you've never read Saul before, I wouldn't recommend letting Darkness be your introduction to his work-it is not quite up to his normally high standards.

+ This book was very good although there were times when I had a hard time believing some things that happened like when the "dark man" died at the end. There were also a lot of unanswered questions, like what happened to the little girl? Did she come back home? Did she get her youth back? I felt like I got cut off with several chapters missing.

+ Riveting, exciting, terrifying, these words don't really describe this novel's complex and chilling events. The events which take place in John Saul's Darkness, is recognizably haunting. The fear you feel while reading about the characters, holds you from beginning to end. And as demented as this may sound, I personally hated when the book ended.