Deception Point is a fictional novel written by Dan Brown. Deception Point is a thriller that has a very interesting storyline. Because Deception Point has many twists in its plot, it has a plethoric amount of irony. The theme of the novel is, “Let truth and justice prevail.” While reading the book, I was excited to finish the book and discover the ending due to the many twists in the plot and I recommend this novel to readers who love suspense. To put it differently, Deception Point is a book filled with suspense that will greatly satisfy readers that crave for an excellent action-thriller.

Deception Point is mainly about an intelligence analyst and a group of civilian scientists that are trying to verify the authenticity of a NASA discovery while being hunted down by government assassins. Rachael Sexton, the intelligence analyst, Michael Tolland, an oceanographer and TV star, and other scientists were summoned by President Zach Herney of the United States to confirm the validity of a NASA discovery in the Arctic north. What NASA discovered was a meteorite containing fossils of extraterrestrial life forms. At first, Rachel, Michael, and the others confirmed the fossils were genuine. Later, they began to theorize the meteorite was a fake. Unfortunately, the Delta Force, a group of government assassins, were ordered by an unknown controller to kill anyone who knew about the meteorite’s secret to deter the controversial truth from going public. At the same time President Herney told a press conference, revealing the discovery to every U.S. citizen. Because President Herney is a strong supporter of NASA, the meteorite discovery was supposed to help him win election from Senator Sexton, his opposing candidate who criticized NASA for its over spending and failed projects. Finally, Rachel and Michael collected enough evidence to prove the meteorite was a fake. However, the Delta Force were still not satisfied with having two civilian scientists dead, but wanted Rachel, Michael, and the one scientist that fled for safety to die in order to insure the meteorite will not be exposed as a forgery. In the end, the controller of the Delta Force was not an affiliate President Herney, but was Rachel Sexton’s boss, William Pickering, the director of the National Reconnaissance Office. His motive for wanting to have the meteorite be perceived as genuine was because he wanted to protect  NASA from privatization, meaning he did not want NASA to be owned by private space companies that would sell NASA technology and patents to enemies of the U.S. Yet, senator Sexton, accepted bribes from space companies and would allow the privatization of NASA and space if he became president. In the end, Rachel and Michael, with their guile, evaded dead, killed their assassinators, and allowed the president to confess about the meteorite. Overall, the novel was interesting.

In Deception Point, there are there are many examples of irony. One example of situational irony is when the Delta Force failed to kill Rachel and Michael. The Delta Force is a team of professional slayers that have a reputation for eliminating their targets in a furtive manner. At the time their targets were at the edge of the glacier in which the meteorites was in, so the Delta Force decided to use a flash bang grenade to crack the ice they were on into the cold Arctic Ocean where they would freeze and drown. On the other hand, they still survived since Rachel kept pounding the ice they were floating on, which sent underwater sound waves that were picked up by a nearby sub that saved them. One example of dramatic irony is when Gabrielle Ashe, the aide of Senator Sexton, breaks into the Senator’s office to hack into his computer without him knowing she was in his office. Gabrielle had been told by Marjorie Tench, the senior advisor of the President, that Senator Sexton, the man she had an affair with, was accepting illegal bribes from private space companies. As a result, Gabrielle wanted to know if the accusation was true by hacking into his computer. So, Gabrielle broke into his office through a supply closet in a ladies’ room into the Senator’s office and discovered checks ranging from $20,000 to $500,000. Then, the Senator called Gabrielle to check up on her, but recognized the ticking of his clock over the phone and rushed into his office. And then, Senator Sexton accuses Gabrielle of breaking, into his office, but Gabrielle defended herself by arguing that he was drunk and was paranoid to think that she would be able to pick his locks and disarm his high level security alarm. At last, the best example of situational irony in Deception Point is when the controller of the Delta force was revealed to be William Pickering, Rachel Sexton’s boss. At first, the main suspects who were most likely to be the controller of the Delta Force and the creator of the false meteorite were President Herney, Lawrence Ekstrom (administrator of NASA), and Marjorie Tench (senior advisor to the president). All three of the obvious suspects would gain from the meteorite discovery. All they could gain from the discovery is that they would no longer be chastised for supporting NASA, and the President would be re-elected without using any mudslinging tactics that would make Americans feel more cynical about the government. On the contrary, it was William Pickering who was the mastermind whose motive was to maintain national security. All in all, there were many examples of irony in Deception Point.

The theme of Deception Point is, “Let truth and justice prevail”. Although the meteorite is absolutely counterfeit, and was forged by William Pickering, the President and NASA were still at fault for presenting a lie, despite their innocence. At one point, Rachel faxed Senator Sexton incontrovertible evidence that supported the meteorite was fake. In addition, if Senator Sexton revealed the information to the public, he would win the election, put the country at risk by allowing private space companies to sell NASA technology to other countries, ruin the reputation and image of the President and the government, and destroy NASA. Regardless, William Pickering made the meteorite to save NASA and maintain national security, but later became forced to kill his employee, Rachel Sexton. To this end, the best solution to the conflict was to let the President confess about the meteorite and come clean. In any event, the theme of Deception Point is, “Do not hide the truth, but do not let it harm the innocent.”

Deception Point is a book I read that I wanted to continuously read in order to understand the plot. As I read, there were questions that I wanted answered such as, “What was the important discovery NASA made?”, “Who will win the election?”, and “Who made the fake meteorite, and why?”. Also, I was making deductions in order to find out who was responsible for the meteorite and murders. First, I thought the mastermind would either be President Herney, Lawrence Ekstrom, or Marjorie Tench. All of them had the motivation to be culprit and the access to a military force. Nevertheless, I was very shocked to learn that William Pickering, the man who promised to protect Rachel Sexton from the President, was the one who would later try to kill her. Thus, I felt gullible as I learned the entire plot. I highly recommend this book to lovers of suspense, action, and/or conspiracy.

In conclusion, Deception Point is a great novel filled with suspense that will greatly satisfy readers that love action-thrillers. It has a very interesting storyline. It has many examples of irony. Its theme is, “Let truth and justice prevail”. Last, it was a book I enjoyed reading and is a book suitable for suspense lovers.