Deception Point - Dan Brown

Sitting at LHR with only my part-read copy of Allan Massie and part- read- and- abandoned- a- while- ago copy of William Dalrymple's White Mughals, and starting to feel increasingly nervous about our 13 hour cross Atlantic flight from Madrid to Santiago, I decided that I absolutely *had* to buy some more gripping reading materials.... and induldged in a 3 for 2 offer at Books etc: The Shadow of the Wind, The Line of Beauty, and Dan Brown's Deception Point. Not prizes for guessing that the latter was the first in my sweaty little palms.

I'd like to think that it was the Arctic american setting that swung it, but in fact it was a toss up between this and Digital Fortress, and I know that Hazel has a borrow-able copy of that.

Dan delivered, much to my relief. Spurred on by the prospect of some lighter fare, I ploughed on through The Evening of the World to the bitter end, and somewhere over Brazil I started on Deception Point. Dan kept me turning the pages as we changed planes at Santiago and flew southwards to Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas, and, on Christmas eve, eastwards from Patagonia to the Mount Pleasant and the Falkland Islands. I finally reached the end on Christmas Day, but only after we'd unwrapped our presents and gorged ourselves on a feast of festive food.

Buy it: Amazon link