Perhaps best known for The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown does not restrict himself to tales with religious overtones. In Digital Fortress, technology meant to crack codes succumbs to human foibles and threatens the security of the American Intelligence community. But it is in the underground home of this technological marvel that actual murders occur as the powerful supercomputer comes under attack and the technicians scramble to find a way to stop the destruction of the software that keeps the government ahead of terrorists.

The pace of the story is fast. The mystery of how the problem started, of who initiated the attack, keeps the reader guessing until the perpetrator is finally revealed. But I personally found the actions and inactions of the heroine frustrating as the NSA’s top cryptographer does some incredibly stupid things. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading more of Dan Brown’s books.

Have you ever wished you could rewrite a character in someone else’s novel?