Digital Fortress

By Dan BrownWikipedia plot summary (slightly altered to be less cheesy): When the National Security Agency's code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious and ingeniously complex code called Digital Fortress that it cannot break, the agency calls in Susan Fletcher, a brilliant mathematician and their head cryptographer, to crack it. Fletcher discovers that the code, which is written in Japanese, is a viral program designed to break down the NSA's firewall and encryption systems, allowing anyone anywhere to access all of the NSA's files. She also discovers that it was written by Ensei Tankado, a former NSA employee who became displeased with the NSA's intrusion into people's private lives. Tankado, essentially holding the NDS hostage, intends to auction the code's algorithm on his website, and release it for free if he dies, threatening to cripple U.S. intelligence. Fletcher, along with her fiancé, David Becker, a skilled linguist, are thrust into a global chase as they must find a way to stop the spread of the code.

I liked this book quite a bit. It moved fast, kept you on your toes, and it had that Dan Brown book feel where you feel like you might be learning something as you get sucked in. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My one complaint: I don't think that Dan Brown writes about a woman main character well. I didn't like her. Oh well. The book was still good.