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Deception Point by Dan Brown

Hardback Paperback

This is my second Dan Brown read. This time the story involves the President of the United States, Zachary Herney, who is campaigning for re-election. He is pitting against Senator Sedgwick Sexton who is ruthlessly ambitious and receives regular bribes from businessmen who want to see him get into power. He is also a serial philanderer who sent his wife to an early grave and who has little time for his daughter, Rachel, who has a powerful job herself as a Gister for the National Reconnaissance Office. One of Sexton’s key campaign issues is to reduce the spending of NASA and to move space exploration into the private sector. Sexton publicly denounced NASA and sites recent failed missions and their huge costs to the Country. This hits the right note with the US citizens and it looks like Sexton will have a runaway victory. However, with perfect timing the current President is informed by NASA that they have made a staggeringly important discovery contained in a meteorite buried deep in the ice in the Arctic. The President wastes no time in locating some ‘independents’ to verify the find before he announces it to the public.

Rachel Sexton is one of the people the President chooses fro this task. She is employed as a ‘gister’ who condenses lengthy complex reports into one page briefings. The President needs the confirmation before he broadcasts to the nation information which he feels confident will win him re-election. As Rachel is the daughter of his opponent there is an obvious conflict of interests but there is no love lost between her and her father so she feels flattered to be on a mission for the President and is, in any case, no admirer of her fathers Politics. Running alongside the Artic discovery story is an exploration of Sexton’s dodgy dealings and sexual affairs, which are very believably told.

Up to two thirds through the book I was enthralled and learning how NASA and, indeed the White House, operates was fascinating. However towards the end the situations our heroes and heroin found themselves in became ever more dangerous and their miraculous escapes from situation ever more unbelievable. As in Angel and Demons Dan Brown is excellent at building up the tension and there some unexpected twists where people turn out to be not who you thought they were. However, his attempts at weaving in a love story somehow don’t work and were a bit cringe worthy at times.

All in all I enjoyed the book and I did find it difficult to put down. However, for me, it scores much lower than Angels and Demons.