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Title: Deception Point by Boyd Gaines, Dan Brown ISBN: 0-7435-3575-8 Publisher: Audioworks Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 5 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.96 (188 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: A failed attempt to emulate Michael Crichton.
Comment: Before burning up the bestsellers' list with THE DA VINCI CODE, author Dan Brown released three other novels. ANGELS & DEMONS introduced the recurring hero around whom CODE was based, and another was about advances in digital cryptography. The third was DECEPTION POINT, a bizarre misfire that reads like a weak pastiche of a Michael Crichton thriller. Fans of THE DA VINCI CODE now searching through Brown's backlist for a good read would be wise to steer well clear of this rubbish.
DECEPTION POINT takes place in a parallel America with only passing resemblance to the real thing. In this parallel America, the top-rated show on television is a documentary program about Earth's oceans, and a presidential candidate can surge to the top of the polls by publicly bashing NASA's budget overruns. Clearly Brown's more interested in the thrill-a-minute set pieces he's arranged for his characters to endure than in providing an even slightly realistic backdrop.
In the context of a bizarre contest for the Presidency, an incredible discovery is made in the polar ice. Teams of scientists, as well as a purely extraneous character meant to be the protagonist, travel to the Arctic Circle to verify the find. Brown spends the first hundred pages of DECEPTION POINT trying to cast a Michael Crichton-esque spell upon the proceedings, complete with mouthpiece characters spewing reams of expository data. Later, though, when evidence of fraud comes to light, the narrative devolves into a series of action sequences so wildly improbable that they would give Arnold Schwarzenegger pause.
Dan Brown is no Michael Crichton. While Crichton can take even the most mundane of topics and infuse it with fascination and wonderment, Brown can only run his flat, poorly developed characters through the motions. His villains are one step away from twirling their mustaches and tying the heroes to the railroad tracks. The conspiracy around which the plot is so widespread and costly to enact that the reader is not convinced anyone would buy it.
DECEPTION POINT demonstrates that no cliché is beneath Brown's consideration. The novel has everything: scheming politicians with a history of infidelity and dishonest financial dealings, wisecracking scientists, killers who can never seem to kill the heroes even when there's no escape, and villains who'd rather talk about their plans than dispose of their enemies. Perhaps if Dan Brown were trying to create an AUSTIN POWERS-like satire of technothrillers, DECEPTION POINT could be considered a success. As it is, the novel is a flailing mess even before it reaches its howlingly far-fetched conclusion.
As mentioned, DECEPTION POINT will likely see its sales renewed thanks to Dan Brown's powerhouse hit, THE DA VINCI CODE, but it doesn't deserve the attention. Writing careers have foundered on books as worthless as DECEPTION POINT. Dan Brown and his publishers would be better off burying this novel deep in the polar ice cap. That's no worse than it deserves.
Rating: 5
Summary: Spectacular! Brilliant! A Real Page Turner
Comment: Unbelievably good. Out-Crichtons Michael. Out-Clanceys Tom. What a brillliant mind. First Dan Brown builds a fantastic hypothesis and then slowly undoes it. This man should work for the CIA, he is such a brain! This is a terrific story about how NASA falls on its own sword. The characters are well drawn, the women especially. The inside workings of politics is a fun story. How can one writer know so much? One of the best thrillers I have read in several years. Every chapter is a cliff-hanger. When a NASA satellite in the Arctic discovers a meteorite buried deep in a glacier, the foundering Agency grabs the publicity to save it from being voted out of existence by dollar-hungry senators and representatives. The president is also in need of a something to boost his sagging polls. This looks like the life-saver, until it begins to look like a gigantic hoax. And on top of that, someone is willing to kill, and does murder several scientists, in orer to prevent exposure. You won't be able to put this down, once you start it. A high-concept novel, yet thoroughly believeable.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Page Turner
Comment: I have not read Dan Brown's other novels but I really am enjoying this book. I am on the last 50 pages and it has been a very enjoyable read. Maybe some of the Nasa stuff isn't too realistic but when I am reading a good book I don't need reality. This book is a wild and fun ride from one page to the next.
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Title: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown ISBN: 0671027360 Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Digital Fortress : A Thriller by Dan Brown ISBN: 0312263120 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 05 May, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown ISBN: 0385504209 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln ISBN: 0440136482 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 15 January, 1983 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: The Eight by Katherine Neville ISBN: 0345366239 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 14 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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