The Rule of Four (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Caldwell and Thomason's intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason's book is the more cerebral-and better written-of the two: think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco. The four seniors are Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin. Tom, the narrator, is the son of a Renaissance scholar who spent his life studying the ancient book, "an encyclopedia masquerading as a novel, a dissertation on everything from architecture to zoology." The manuscript is also an endless source of fascination for Paul, who sees it as "a siren, a fetching song on a distant shore, all claws and clutches in person. You court her at your risk." This debut novel's range of topics almost rivals the Hypnerotomachia's itself, including etymology, Renaissance art and architecture, Princeton eating clubs, friendship, steganography (riddles) and self-interpreting manuscripts. It's a complicated, intricate and sometimes difficult read, but that's the point and the pleasure. There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race not only to solve the puzzle, but also to stay alive. Readers might be tempted to buy their own copy of the Hypnerotomachia and have a go at the puzzle. After all, Caldwell and Thomason have done most of the heavy deciphering-all that's left is to solve the final riddle, head for Rome and start digging.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–A compelling modern thriller that cleverly combines history and mystery. When four Princeton seniors begin the Easter weekend, they are more concerned with their plans for the next year and an upcoming dance than with a 500-year-old literary mystery. But by the end of the holiday, two people are dead, two of the students are injured, and one has disappeared. These events, blended with Renaissance history, code breaking, acrostics, sleuthing, and personal discovery, move the story along at a rapid pace. Tom Sullivan, the narrator, tells of his late father's and then a roommate's obsession with the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a 15th-century "novel" that has long puzzled scholars. Paul has built his senior thesis on an unpopular theory posited by Tom's father–that the author was an upper-class Roman rather than a monk–and has come close to proving it. While much of the material on the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili is arcane and specialized, it is clearly explained and its puzzles are truly puzzling, while the present-day action is compelling enough to keep teens reading. There is a love interest for Tom and a lively portrayal of Princeton life. This novel will appeal to readers of Dan Brown's TheDa Vinci Code (Doubleday, 2003) but it supplies a lot more food for thought, even including some salacious woodcuts from the original book as well as coded excerpts and their solutions.–Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Dell; First Edition edition (June 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440241359
• ISBN-13: 978-0440241355
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,180 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,874 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Out of their Ivy League, February 22, 2008

By	Minna Minocha "I'm always reading something!" (Iowa, USA) - See all my reviews

Compared to other academic thrillers like Rabid: A Novel, The Dante Club: A Novel, or Special Topics in Calamity Physics, The Rule of Four doesn't measure up.

The Rule of Four is set at Princeton, very obviously at Princeton, at look-at-me-I'm-a-Princetonian Princeton. There's a part in this book where the authors (and the characters are obviously the authors,) sneer at someone who is too obsequious, too flashy, not Ivy League subtle enough, and yet that's exactly what they're doing throughout this whole book.

Plotwise, the major turning points were oddly pulled out from under the major characters, much like a duel that happens off-stage and then someone staggers onto stage and tells you about it, and in a boring manner.

It's a first novel, and these two writers are very young. Some of the passages have merit. It will be interesting to watch them mature as writers.

Minna

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Insipid And Overly Done Narrative...NOT The Davinci Code!, November 15, 2007

By	Smarm E. Caterpillar (Astoria, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This book started out with promise, but quickly begand a spiraling descent into a mish mash of history lessons, bad writing, perspective on life, and cardboard cutout characters.

The insight into Princeton, academia, and the Renaissance was interesting...but thats about it. The story was too involved, the 'quest' for knowledge not intriguing enough, and at the end it devolved into a shadow of a man, the main character, pontificating over his life, which meant absolutely nothing to me.

Beyond a few history lessons, this book doesn't have much to offer. The Da Vinci Code at least swept you along in a fast pace of mystry and puzzles, but this one was more like slogging through an end of the year term paper. As opposed to hard to put down, it was hard to pick up.

I'd recommend this one to readers who aren't too selective and who just need a book to kill time...if there's nothing else at the bookstore.

83 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Arrogant., December 31, 2007

By	John G. Evans (Titan, Saturn) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author thought a lot of himself thinking that we would be interested in hearing his exploits in the steam tunnels (for example) at his school. Potential here, but this work needed a good editor.

not sure how this book got published. Can't believe that it was listed anywhere around the Di Vinci book. First mistake that I have ever purchased on Amazon.