I just finished reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown the other day, and I was rather amused with the parallels that could be drawn between it and the hunt. The basic premise is that a programmer has created an encryption method that is truly "unbreakable." The NSA finds out about it, so of course they want to make sure that it doesn't get into the wrong hands. Well, this programmer has a certain dislike for the NSA, and is essentially trying to blackmail them with it. He encrypts the algorithm with itself, and distributes it across the internet. He offers to give the key to the highest bidder. The programmer turns up dead in Spain, so the NSA dispatches a person to find the key, which they believe he was carrying with him. Here's the connection: it turns out that the key is engraved on the programmer's gold ring! But, he gave it away as he was dying, and it turns into a massive wild-goose chase to get the ring. Sound familiar? Anyways, the search for the gold ring with a special word engraved on it, combined with all the encryption stuff, really reminded me of this game.

The book itself is a pretty good read, but the ending left me rather dissapointed. It was almost as if Dan couldn't figure out how to end it, or he had a publisher deadline quickly approaching, so he quickly threw together a couple chapters. Regardless, it's still good for a couple hours entertainment.

i read that book also. i agree that the stories are somewhat parallel. anybody check dan browns website for a clue?