Deception Point Blog 2

This book is getting so exciting. I'm not really bugged that I can't guess what's going to happen until Brown introduces it because it's so shocking and exciting then. Sometimes when Brown is beating around the bush right before the good part, I start skimming down the page to get to the action and then go back and reread what I skipped over. I think the plot is so interesting and I like how everything is coming together. I love the thought that the meteorite is a fake and that Rachel can figure it out when an acclaimed astrophysicist can’t. By the way, I picture Corky as Dwight Schrute from The Office and I think it’s hilarious! When the meteor was first introduced as benefiting the president’s reelection, I thought that was too convenient, and now to think it’s a fake planted there for that very purpose is perfect. We still don’t know for sure if it is a fake, but I think it is. How horrible to lie to the whole world about a topic as big as extraterrestrial life! I’d like to believe that the President is innocent of this little ploy, but how would his senior advisor be involved and not himself? It’s hard for me to stop reading at this point because everything is so intriguing and it feels like now every chapter is a piece to the puzzle instead of an introduction or something irrelevant.
P.S. The snow pellet gun is amazing! I want one! But maybe one that’s not lethal.

The second section of Deception Point was better than the first in the sense that it picked up the pace a lot. I was so shocked to learn that the person behind contacting Gabrielle was Marjorie Tench. At first I kept asking, “What could she possibly have to gain by bringing down her own candidate?”, but I quickly decided that it had to deal with some sort of trickery. When Norah, Michael, Rachel and Corkey were attacked it didn’t come as that much of a shock, due to the fact that Ming had already been killed, along with the mysterious other scientist from the beginning. I feel like some of our questions are finally being answered in this section as well. There are too many things though, that are only half answered. Even though not all of the questions are answered, at least some of them are. At least the partial answers help us to start making connections on our own about what is going on and what might happen in the future. I also like how the answers that we are given aren’t given in such a way that it just seems like you’re being told straight out. They’re still surrounded by that aura of mystery that makes you have to fill in the blanks from the context clues. My new questions are, however, which ones of their friends and colleges will die before the “bad guys” are brought to justice? Who else will be killed? Possibly William Pickering? Or will he escape? If he dies, will it be before or after the escaped trio reaches him? Also, how many others will we learn that, although we once had faith in them, we can no longer trust? And will someone who we have already learned to dislike be the very one who is able to help them the most?

Post Swei

While reading this section of the book I was happy that the story line was picking up more. Each chapter left me wanting to read the next one. But once I finished and started reflecting, I realized that I was excited to read the next chapter because it was the only way to figure out what was going on. Brown kept switching back and forth between characters without telling us anything, he was continually restating the problems. It also annoyed me that Rachel and Mike both suddenly thought of past events that helped them when they got stuck; events that the reader wasn’t present for. The politics of the election and the meteorite are intensifying now, which I’m glad for, and overall the book is getting better, though the whole being confused through everything isn’t going away. I’ve been trying to figure out if Tench is bad or not, it seems a bit too obvious for her to really be behind the deception, but I can’t think of anyone else who would do it. Senator Sexton is way too out of the loop, and I suppose it could be the NASA guy; anyway this portion of the book has been keeping me interested.

Blog Entry #2

While I was reading these chapters, I got increasingly annoyed with the chapter endings. It took Brown forever to explain what was in the extraction pit, and it was just some glowing plankton. The last sentences of some of the chapters were so cheesy, too. The chapters barely revealed anything, and it took multiple chapters to get back to the same storyline. Why didn’t he just explain Norah’s plan to validate the ice data in the chapter where she came up with it? Instead, he ended that chapter on yet another cliffhanger and skipped to the story with Gabrielle and Tench, went back to the main plot without revealing anything useful, put in another chapter on Gabrielle and Tench, spent another chapter on Rachel without revealing anything, described Gabrielle’s situation for the third time, before finally explaining the plan. It wasn’t like that plan was crucial to the plot of the story or that it was something the reader could figure out. There was no reason to leave it unexplained except to make that chapter (and the next 6) unnecessarily suspenseful. And what was with Tolland’s sudden memory that just happened to give him an idea of how to escape? That seemed a little too convenient to me. After those chapters, the plot got a little more bearable and I actually enjoyed reading it again. It still left me with questions at the end of this section, but at least now they were about more important things. What is the connection between Tench and Ekstrom? Why did Harper lie about PODS? Who is the fourth person on the Delta team’s hit list? The overall impression of this section was still good, in spite of the annoying chapters at the beginning. At least all of my questions have to be answered in the next section because it’s the end.
Sarah

Blog 2

The book is getting better and better the more I read. I love the way Brown twists everything together, twist it back, and then twists it again. I still think that constantly shifting from character to character has helped this book so much. I think (although it would still be intriguing) it wouldn’t hold my interest nearly as well if it was long drags of information regarding one character and then shifting. I think the constant shifts lets me begin to formulate my opinions about each happening, move on, formulate more opinions and then find out what happens (which sometimes comes from left field and sometimes comes right down the middle). It has really let me begin analyzing instead of having it all just thrust before me in a continuous plot line. The farther I’ve gotten the more it seems like Brown has just thrown every idea he had for the book in and then randomly arranged them all into a plot that would make some sense to the reader, I mean there is really a lot of different things that have been taking place in this book. I can only hope that the ending will hold strong and not disappoint.

"Ice ice baby..."

Well it seems that we have finally reached the deception part of the book. I can somewhat forgive brown for his lengthy beginning to set up so many characters because now he can’t seem to wait to kill them all off. I kind of got the vibe of who he was going to kill even before it happened. I mean he can’t kill corky because he’s the jester. Rachel and Michael are also far too important to die from “snow asphyxiation” or death by flying Micro-bug. Brown also seems to take a page from Shakespeare in how Hubris is the downfall of Norah. As for what’s happening state side, I am glad to say that the political intrigue is still thick as ever. The news that Tench is the secret informant does seem interesting. But this sudden plot development tasted sour to me. Brown continues to annoy me with how he will randomly tie two things together just to enhance the plot. As a writer he can do this but I find it somewhat annoying that I have no way of figuring it out by myself. I understand he needs to hide some of these things from us for twists and other things. However some of the interest is ruined when he can just do whatever he wants and leave me confused for another couple chapters.

Deception Point Blog Entry #2

The book has definitely picked up now. As soon as I got to the part with Ming I couldn’t put it down until I finished it. Brown certainly likes killing people off, and has interesting ways of doing it. Getting pushed out of a plane, falling in a hole of freezing glowing water because you were poked in the eye by a robot mosquito, and suffocating on snow are definitely ways I have never heard of or would’ve thought of. Three people have already died, and Michael, Corky, Rachel, and another new “target” are possibly going to be next. I was very surprised when Gabrielle’s informant turned out to be Marjorie Tench, but we still don’t know who Marjorie got the information from, so that question is only half answered. The only reason Marjorie would’ve sent Gabrielle the information about NASA would be if she already knew that they would find the meteorite. Or did they find the meteorite already by then? Is she part of the conspiracy or is that too obvious? And if the meteorite is fake, how do they explain the chondrules and the fusion crust? The only problem I have with this part of the book is that the chapters all end on cliffhangers, so it seems to take too long to continue on with the separate parts of the plot. I can’t wait to find out how Brown manages to explain all of this.

Lindsay

Deception Point blog #2

After reading the first third of the book I waited in anticipation for many chapters; waiting for what Dan Brown was going to think of next. So much happened in the beginning of the book I knew something big was about to go down. The book began to really pick up again for me when Wailee Ming was attacked and killed by Delta-one. This sparked the chain of events that pushed me to read on in the book. One thing I particularly enjoyed about Dan Brown’s writing was how he made it seem as if the characters were only paranoid before the attack; just like how someone would do if they saw something in the dark. This makes the characters’ traits seem more plausible. The attack threw many more questions at me. Who called for the attack? Why would they need to change where the meteor was found? And if they inserted it into glacier, was this a legitimate find? All of Elkstrom’s strange behaviors force me to believe that he is the person in charge of the attack on Rachel and the scientists. He decided to hide Wailee’s body and he sent all of them out to the ice in the first place so he knew where they were when the attack occurred. This leads me to believe that he is in charge and he is trying to dispose of them before they tell anyone else what they have found out about the meteorite. There are many questions left not fully answered that I need to find out.

Deception Point Blog 1

Sorry guys, I just now figured out how to do this, my blog has been on my own page since Sunday night.

I've never read a book like Deception Point before or any other by Dan Brown. It is captivating and the plot could be in an action movie. I’m really impressed with the technology used throughout the book; the author’s note at the beginning that says that the organizations and technologies in this story are real surprised me as I read about mosquito-sized microbots and on-the-spot DNA analysis for personal identification. And this book was published in 2001, so think of what other cool things have been invented in the last seven years. I also like the role of politics in the story. I think it’s interesting to read about a presidential election when one is happening right now. Reading all the political secrets in this book makes me wonder how corrupt politics is to this day. Probably more than I’d like to know about. I think it is so ironic though how both presidential candidates in the story have a brilliant woman behind them: Majorie Tench and Gabrielle Ashe, who help their bosses in remarkable ways. I love the characters in this book; they feel so real and distinct. Some of them go well together (Rachel and Michael Tolland) and some clash (Corky Marlinson and Norah Mangor), and its really funny I think. Overall, I really like the book so far.

Where does the "Point" come in here?

Deception Point has proven to be a typical Dan Brown read thus far. Brown’s style of switching between different characters allows us to follow multiple storylines and see the same parts of the story unfold from different points of view. At certain points the switching also feels like a nag in how it will leave you wanting to know more about one character and then you are whisked away to see some other event. Brown’s shroud of secrecy also seems to be a little over the top. While the whole idea of Delta Force operatives watching unknown people in the Arctic does seem to create intrigue, it seems more like Brown has decided to leave us completely out of the loop about some parts of the story. His random bits of intrigue (like the man in the van with Senator Sexton) are like pieces of meat he waves in front of an emaciated dog. He waves these secrets around and refuses to reward the reader with any new info. After awhile you begin not to care and would rather starve then give Brown the satisfaction of eating his little secret because you know he’s just going to taunt you again later.

One good bit about the story is the setting. It is rich with political intrigue and unique characters, but also seems to move much like politics does: slow and uninteresting. The fact that it takes Brown 7 “chapters” just to move Rachel from the Chesapeake to the Artic in a jet moving 1500 mph shows just how slow his writing is. This also brings up a big issue for me: chapter length. Having read Angels and Demons as well as The Da Vinci code a big nuisance for me in Brown’s books remains how he makes each chapter barely 2 pages. Very little also gets done in each chapter what with all of his over the top descriptions about mundane and completely unimportant information. I don’t need 4 pages on different types of meteorites to understand that fossils in a rock from outer space are kind of a big deal. Nor do I need the whole history of Air Force One Mr. Brown, just tell the story.

All in all, the story so far reads more like a movie script instead of a good book. I can sense the later chapters between Tolland and Rachel will read like The Bourne Identity with the two running from people trying to kill them for any number of boring reasons. It’s still a bit early to tell but I have the feeling that there will be some serious revelations, although they won’t be until the very end and will seem rather abrupt. That has been one of my biggest problems with this “Thriller / Conspiracy” Genre. They do whatever they want for no apparent reason other than making you confused for 500 pages and then just come out for the last 50 and tell you everything. Its akin to being randomly punched in the face by strangers only to be told a week later that you had “punch here” tattooed on your forehead and no one bothered to tell you.

The book got off to a great start and caught my attention immediately. So much so that I haven’t been able to put it down since I started reading it. Based on the back of the book and the things that I’ve read so far, I keep telling myself that I’m going to get the book figured out. Every time I read another page, though, I change my mind on who the “bad guy” is going to be. It seems really obvious that they’re trying to make Rachel’s dad seem like he’s the bad guy based on all of the complicated issues from his past that are repeatedly brought up. How can an author keep you interested though if he gives it away right at the beginning? As I read on however I can’t seem to decide if Dan Brown is simply trying to confuse the readers by drawing their attention away from the real “threat” or making it so obvious that they over analyze things and think that it can’t be who it really is. It’s because of these twists and turns that I can’t guess what is going to happen and am, therefore, completely intrigued. The book seems to be taking some of the most overused ideas and throwing them all together to make a rarely done plot line. The presidential race with a weird connection between the two parties (the daughter), the “alien” aspect, the possibility of a love triangle developing between Rachel, Mike Tolland and Norah Mangor all woven into one story seems like a repeated story, but the way they’re meshed together makes you want to keep getting more information. I want all my questions answered. Somehow the somewhat cliché story ideas come together to make such an extremely interesting plot that I’m having a difficult time focusing on writing my entry because in my head I’m still trying to figure out what is going to happen next. The idea of using a laser to heat the meteor so that it was helping to get its self out of the ground was cool as well. Why would he choose to use the scientific discovery to assist in developing itself? It almost seems like Brown is trying to make it seem like the meteor wants itself, and the secrets it holds, to be discovered. It is an interesting idea to think about. What could the story gain from having the meteor being used to get itself out of the ground? How will that relate to the rest of the plot or does it?

Deception Point Blog Entry #1

The book starts with a very interesting lead, but after that it seems to slow down. I was expecting the book to be really amazing since Sarah couldn’t put it down, but the beginning, besides the lead, didn’t seem all that exciting. When they finally got to the part where the “surprise” happened to be a fossil of extraterrestrial life, it kind of seemed like a letdown. They found a bug in a rock. It’s great that they found evidence of life on other planets, I was just expecting more. And, judging from the back cover, there is probably something fake about it. One thing I did like was that all the technology in the book actually exists. I thought that the mosquito surveillance robot was just some spy equipment Brown made up, so it was a good thing he put the statement in the beginning that said all the technology and some of the less known organizations are real. Delta Force will probably end up being the assassins that try to kill them, but so far they just seem mysterious. Despite starting a little slow, I’m sure that the plot will pick up now that most of the characters are introduced.

Lindsay

I really like Deception Point so far. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when I realized Dan Brown was bringing aliens into the mix, but the science behind it makes it more credible. I enjoyed reading the politics of the book, and Brown’s writing technique (switching between the characters) makes it more intriguing. Rachel is the only person whose thoughts are completely revealed, but you also get the view point of each character. I do have one grievance however, Senator Sexton has been made into evil incarnate, and Zach Herney is seemingly incorruptible. Not only did Sexton cheat on his wife, but he used her death to gain sympathy for politics, then he sleeps with his assistant (major stereotype), and now he is getting illegal funds from mysterious people in vans. Politicians have their problems but none are so completely heinous, and definitely none are completely good. Senator Sexton and Zach Herney just seem a bit one dimensional to me. Other than that the book has been great, I haven’t been able to put it down because of all the questions I want answered. My biggest one, what is this big deception and who is behind it? Is it someone we have already met, or will a new character be introduced? I cannot wait for the answers to these questions to be divulged.

Blog Entry #1

The first part of this book is really intense. A scientist dies of unexplained circumstances in the very first chapter, and the book doesn’t really slow down after that. Nearly every chapter ends with some sort of cliffhanger, which makes it really hard to put down. I liked the way Brown separated the chapters into different stories happening at the same time. As each of them begin to unfold, it made me wonder how they were going to relate, like Senator Sexton’s affair with Gabrielle and Rachel’s trip to the Arctic. I was very surprised when Rachel found out that NASA had discovered a meteorite with bug fossils in it, but after reading the summary I couldn’t help looking for signs that it was fake. So far, everything seems to be confirmed by the scientists, but the chapters involving Delta-One and his team make me think that something even more complicated is going on. The characters that have been introduced so far seem pretty interesting, except Senator Sexton, and I like how Brown added some comic humor between Corky, Tolland, and Norah. It seems pretty obvious that Rachel and Michael are going to end up together, after “fleeing for their lives across a desolate and lethal landscape.”
Sarah

Deception Point Post #1

Having previously read a Dan Brown novel (The Da Vinci Code) I opened Deception Point with a lot of expectations. So far, the book has not disappointed. Personally I really enjoy mystery-thriller books, with the twisting, turning plot, but also the confusion and unexpected. Deception Point has been full of both. It leaves you in the dark for a lot of details, leaving the reader wondering and wanting to read on. Who is that guy in the van? What will happen in the upcoming election? How is the President planning on using Rachel? What is Delta Force’s purpose? And because I have already read the back cover, what is the deception? How did they pull off this trickery? That mysterious quality really helps the book flow and makes you feel like you need to read on just to figure out the situations. Another thing that I have found that Dan Brown does exceptionally is making each sequential paragraph not just a continuation from the previous, but it jumps from character group to character group. That technique is good for not only making it easier to fill in background information, but it allows the reader to not have to think, does the debate between Senator Sexton and Marjorie Tench happen before after or during Rachel’s adventures in the Arctic. It gives the book a timeline. I have enjoyed what I’ve read so far and I hope the book just gets better from here.

Deception point Chapters 1-27

So far I think this is a great book. The beginning of the book was a little slow for my taste but it provided needed information. Although the beginning didn’t grab my attention I could not stop reading as soon as it got going.

Right now I don’t have a clue what the meaning of the prologue was but I’m lookin forward to it making sense soon. I didn’t see anything important in Rachel’s meeting with her father other than introducing us to the characters. This could have been done better.

After Rachel’s meeting with the president I have not been able to put the book down. Every chapter I find myself more and more engrossed. After the debate was over I actually found myself interested in politics. I want to see how badly the force put into motion by Marjorie Tench will smash Senator Sexton’s campaign.

Although everything seems to be going on all at once I can’t help but to wonder where the direction of the story is going. If the book didn’t have six hundred more pages I would have to think I was nearing the falling action. They are extracting the evidence of extraterrestrial life and Sexton is about to be taken down. Where could the story go from here?

ASSIGNMENT

I've divided the book into three sections which will correspond with your postings.
By midnight of Sun. Sept. 21 read through page 103 (chapter 27) and write one 200-word blog. After everyone has posted, you need to write a 100-word blog response to one of the postings by midnight of Wed. Sept. 24.
By midnight of Sun. Sept. 28 read through page 300 (chapter 88) and write one 200-word blog. After everyone has posted, you need to write a 100-word blog response to one of the postings by midnight of Wed. Oct. 1.
By midnight of Sun. Oct. 5 read through the end and write one 200-word blog. After everyone has posted, you need to write a 100-word blog response to one of the postings by midnight of Wed. Oct. 8.
Remember this is the minimum. Feel free to respond to more than one posting.
ENJOY!