My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This one gets a 4 Star rating from me. Not because it’s technically correct when it comes to the technical portion of the book that talks about codes and computers because it has its flaws there but because I simply enjoyed how it wound about. I know there are going to be people who will flat-out cringe at some things in this book that are simply wrong in the geek-world but when I read a book or even watch a movie I try to keep in mind that not everyone resides in Nerddom as I do and will not even notice if something specific is incorrect. Should a writer do their utmost to make sure it is correct? Of course…but even still they will not please everyone. I mean…when it comes to movies I absolutely hate it when I watch a Viking/medieval movie war scene and there are tall thin horses involved. I know that’s absolutely incorrect…but perhaps you wouldn’t notice it and my pointing it out to you could spoil your experience unnecessarily. So, I’m not going to do that here…you’re welcome!
Ok, onward. As I mentioned I did enjoy this book, it keeps your attention and the way Brown takes you back and forth from the U.S. to Spain between Susan’s and Roger’s characters is really well done. You don’t find yourself getting lost in the action between the two locations or mixing things up. There seems to be just enough time spent on each scene before switching back and that’s not an easy balance to achieve but he does this masterfully.
I could go on and on about what I liked about this book but we already know I gave it 4 stars so here’s a little problem I had with it. I found in this book and in “Deception Point” that some of Brown’s dialogue feels unnatural or awkward at times and finally figured out why that was. Too often Susan’s character (in particular) would repeat something either out loud or in her mind that had been said to her when it didn’t need to be repeated. People simply don’t naturally repeat something said to them verbatim in their mind. They may think a response of some type or even a question that may incorporate what’s been said but they don’t parrot back what’s been said to them. I found that to feel rather unnatural and awkward.
Roger was honestly my favorite character out of this book. You might think it should have been Susan but he was completely a fish out of water doing the best he could, improvising along the way and doing whatever it took to survive. I found I liked that about him. Susan was an okay character but she didn’t feel as integral to the story to me as Roger did, I’m not sure that’s what Brown was going for.
So, if you’ve read to this point and read any of the 1 star reviews that other people have given this book do yourself a favor ignore them, unless you are obsessive about technical correctness. I urge you to read it for yourself and form your own opinion.
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