I'm not sure what to believe after reading this book. I've always liked Dan Brown's books because he writes so realistically, using big words to belittle readers about how little they know. 
 Or so I thought. 
 After reading this book, I did a little snooping of my own (OK, those were big words too, I just used Google) and realised that most of the technology, computers and cool machinery did not exist. In fact, Goodreads was an excellent source of information of unhappy reviewers tearing down this book's credibility. Gee, I was really hoping that those stuff were as cool as mentioned in Digital Fortress. 
 But that asides, there are some historical facts and figures that ARE real, if not as cool. NSA. Cryptology. Enigma. Although I can't say that Brown's books are an excellent crash course for a myriad of whacky subjects, his writings definitely introduced readers to an entirely whole new world that most of us would have otherwise never have dreamt about. 
 Having that said, I can't say that Brown's writing style is my favourite. His books usually start off well, but kind of go downhill somewhat at the end. His plot developments are not the best I've come across, although how he comes up with them in the bloody first place is unthinkable. But I must say, there is a significant similarity between the plots in most, if not all, of his books. It doesn't take a cryptologist to figure it out. Now before this I've only read 3 of his books (OK that may be quite a lot already) and my recent awareness of such similarity has indeed taken out most surprises within Brown's novels. 
 No spoiler here, though I'm sure most of us can tell what it is by now. I would still recommend Dan Brown's books any day, despite the slight low ratings on Goodreads. I am aware that most readers claim that Brown has twisted reality to the most atrocious of levels. Thankfully, for a person with no clue about any of the topics he's ever written about so far, I have no problem with enjoying the book at all. But I'm sure that if Dan Brown were to write about something I was excellent at and passionate about - watching TV, Facebooking, sleeping - he'd be getting a thrashing from me as well.