Digital Fortress (1998 original; edició 2004)

Quando o ultra-secreto e invencível descriptador da NSA, o Crivo, se depara com uma mensagem indecifrável criada por um «anjo caído» da própria agência, o director de operações recorre à brilhante criptógrafa Susan Fletcher e ao seu noivo, um professor de Literatura, para ajudarem a desvendar o mistério.Qual será a natureza do terrível código que tornou a NSA como refém? E terá David Becker êxito na sua demanda por um misterioso anel?
Apanhada numa vertiginosa rede de secretismos e mentiras, Susan tenta desesperadamente salvar a agência em que acredita e, mais tarde, a própria vida e a do homem que ama.Mas será essa a resposta para a segurança universal? Chegando o momento da verdade, «quem guardará os guardas»? ( )

Found this a very surprising book. While I have read all the other Dan Brown novels hadn't bothered to try find his first one, Digital Fortress, as random comments I read about it did not generate much interest on my part. Didn't expect much out of it due to comments and thinking what could be so exciting about computer code writing. Well, was I wrong.

This is as an intriguing adventure as any of Dan Brown's other novels. It doesn't have the dynamics of The Da Vinci Code it is an excellent techno thriller and deserving of more attention that it has gotten. The details are excellent. The story is extremely fascinating and Dan Brown throws out enough surprises and twists to keep the reader fixated on the story and not knowing what will happen next. Very candidly believe this is better than some of Dan Brown's other works. If you enjoy a good adventure this should be on your 'to read' list. ( )

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 and 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 ingeniously complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.

Caught in an accelerating tempest of secrecy and lies, Susan 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, and in the end, for the life of the man she loves.

It's been so long since I read this that I can't really remember the details, but going by the rating I gave at the time, I liked it!
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Utter garbage. If it wasn’t because I listen to the “372 Pages We’ll Never Get Back” podcast I would have bailed on it ages ago. The writing was just horrendous. And the climax was a complete cop out. ( )