Kirkus Review
A technothriller, less improbable than some, involving computers, cryptography, and government paranoia. In Brown's hard-working debut, Commander Trevor Strathmore, the NSA's deputy director of operations, has invented TRANSLTR, a top-secret super-computer that by brute force can crack any encryption code in an hour or two. Then Strathmore discovers Digital Fortress, an encryption algorithm written by crippled ex-NSA genius Ensei Tankado, that the TRANSLTR can't break, so he calls in his head of cryptography, Susan Fletcher, to help. Seems that Tankado has posted a copy of Digital Fortress, encrypted with its own algorithm, on the Internet and has offered to sell his password to the highest bidder. But then Tankado turns up dead in Spain, his ring (with a copy of the password) missing, so Strathmore dispatches linguist David Becker (Susan's significant other) to get the ring. What neither Susan nor Becker knows is that Strathmore has his own agenda concerning Digital Fortress and Becker (he's in love with Susan and intends for Becker to be killed). Susan, meanwhile, searches for Tankado's partner, codenamed NDAKOTA, and the other copy of the password. Her suspicions focus on obnoxious coworker Greg Hale and his e-mail account. Becket finds the ting but then is shot--just as Susan and the NSA bigwigs slowly come to understand the effects of Strathmore's plotting: He's accidentally infected TRANSLTR with a computer worm that will leave the NSA's files open to hackers everwhere! Finally, just as the NSA's defenses collapse, Becker rises from the apparently dead to produce the magic ring. Inordinately complicated but reasonably exciting; should find a home in the middle reaches of the intelligence-bureau/techno-whiz readership. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
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. Pursuit of this ring is the engine of the plot. 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, it emerges that Strathmore has as agenda that goes beyond breaching Digital Fortress, and Brown's skill at hinting and concealing Strathmore's deceit will rivet cyber-minded readers. --Gilbert Taylor
Library Journal Review
Digital Fortress is the name of a code that threatens to destroy the world's most advanced computer, located inside the supersecret National Security Agency. Susan Fletcher, a brilliant mathematician, is called in to find out how someone managed to inject a virus into the computer. At the same time, her lover is sent to Spain to retrieve a ring that contains the solution to the virus problem. The story shifts from Spain to Washington, and the suspense is maintained even in some of the technical sections. Paul Michael adroitly leads the listener on a roller coaster ride of murder, deception, and treason. Though people will check this out based on the success of Brown's The DaVinci Code, it stands on its own as a contemporary technothriller of the highest order. Recommended for all libraries.-Joseph L. Carlson, Allan Hancock Coll., Lompoc, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
