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The book begins with an enigmatic prologue which promptly sows the seeds of intrigue for the entire read.
In the light of the imminent elections, President Zachary isn’t looking too good in the public eye. A staunch NASA supporter, he has endorsed a series of NASA’s failed missions with the tax payer’s money. His nemesis, the manipulative senator Sedgewick Sexton, has used this to his utmost advantage and is basking in the good books of the people, as his intentions of abolishing NASA have been publicized.
So when NASA satellites descry a high density meteorite, submerged in the Milne ice shelf and carrying fossils of extraterrestrial bugs, in the midst of this political unrest, the miraculous find seems to be a ploy to secure the incumbent president a second term in the White House. The president personally requests Rachel from the NRO (coincidentally also the estranged daughter of Senator Sexton), to accompany a team of eminent civilian scientists to authenticate NASA’s claim. When Michael Tollan, the renowned oceanographer, astrophysicist Corky Marlinson, glaciologist Nora Mangor, paleontologist Wailee Ming, and Rachel Sexton arrive at their destination and examine the fossils, everything seems bona fide and a spirit of victory sets in as the President is informed.
As in all of Dan Brown’s novels, there are multiple events that come to pass simultaneously in different locations. Concurrent with all that has transpired, there is another coterie in the vicinity - the Delta Force. Operating invisibly under the orders of an unknown chief, the unit is observing the arena and monitoring the movements of the scientists closely. In the White House, President Zachary is all set to go public about the new discovery. At the Milne Ice Shelf however, Ming notices some aberrance in the nature of the ice under the meteorite. Before he gets to investigate it further, he’s killed. Observing the same phenomena later, the other scientists figure out that what should have been an enclosed area of fresh water, is in fact sea water, which is logically impossible. Subsequent to their new findings, they are ambushed by the Delta Force, who manage to kill another member of their team.
Is the discovery of the meteorite and its extraterrestrial fossils, fake? If so, who is the mysterious Delta Force leader and why is he trying to cover it up? Can Rachel and her counterpart secure presidency to the right candidate, by exposing the ulterior motives of the anonymous commander in time?
The story delivers climax on top of climax as the plot unravels rapidly but comes together in the end.
Deception Point, Brown’s 3rd novel, is a science fiction novel and was released in 2001. The novel received favorable reviews.ISBN - 9780552161244
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Pages : 585
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