Before Dan Brown wrote The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, he wrote a book called Digital Fortress. Looking for a quick, fun read, I figured it would be a decent choice, and I was not proven wrong.

A standard Dan Brown-style, modern adventure involving cryptography, the NSA and an attempt to bring down all their wiretapping abilities. Unlike his two most well-known books, this is hardly controversial, only touching lightly on the issue of surveillance in government: hardly a monster of a topic as the entire history of the Catholic church and Jesus Christ Himself.

I would say this book isn’t Brown’s best, but still impressive for a first-timer. It wasn’t difficult or annoying to read, but the flow was a little jumpy and it was a bit too predictable at parts. And I enjoyed the computer talk because, at heart, I’m kind of a nerd. In case you hadn’t noticed.

In case you don’t know what people who pretend they know everything look like, this is a very accurate, real-life snapshot of a few.

[Book Club: The Da Vinci Code]