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The Rule of Four
 

The Rule of Four

by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason

An ivy league murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide memorably in The Rule of Four—a brilliant work of fiction that weaves together suspense and scholarship, high art and unimaginable treachery.

It's Easter at Princeton. Seniors are scrambling to finish their theses. And two students, Tom Sullivan and Paul Harris, are a hair's... (read more)

Top tags: mystery,  fiction,  thriller,  suspense,  academia (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.
S K
  • Rated 4 stars

“I picked up the audio tape of this book at the library and was immediately hooked. I love puzzles and I loved the puzzle of an ancient text--it has the same pull as buried treasure. The Hypnerotomachia is an authentic Renaissance text and the fact that someone would go to so much trouble to obscure the true intent of writing fascinated me. It was only after I finished the book that I learned that many of the codes and cyphers purportedly in the text are fictional elements. I am still...”

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Didn’t Like It

Kristin J
  • Rated 2 stars

“Eh. Interesting parts, but I felt like the authors were trying to hard to make me believe that this book was exciting. All of the moments where they clearly thought my heart was supposed to be racing, I just thought the characters were overreacting. Easy to read, but not recommended.”

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Community:
  • Rated 3.173261 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 2.5 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Gary L

    gary l said:

    “Forgettable....”

    posted Thursday, June 5 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Yelina N

    yelina n said:

    “A bit of over kill and the author trying to deal with his own issues of indaquacy in his personal relationships. I could have done without all of that and without his bizzar relationship to his girlfriend.”

    posted Friday, April 25 2008
  • Sheila S

    sheila s said:

    “I really enjoyed this book. It was much better than the DaVinci Code.”

    posted Friday, January 25 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Shoshi2

    shoshi2 said:

    “I could understand that it got some people so enthralled and that just the decoding of the secret messages has a very hypnotic value. Why was Coronna so eager, to keep it a secret, and why wanted he to know who his enemies were? SInce Tom grew up with his fathers obsession to break the code of the Hypnerotomachia, he may have that chosen as his thesis. Somehow it drew people from one conclusion in the other.
    Those two man were killed in a very brutal way 500 years before it was first published, i thought it was an 'overkill'. Why always women on the pictures? What i found interesting was that it claimed the decypher system of the Torah or Kabbalah, whatever that was. So was it Coronna or someone claiming it to be? In the novel, the scholars got obsessed with braking the code and Paul was determined to crack the code with the secret messages. Yes i thought that Tom wanted to vindicate himself with decyphering the Hypnerotomachia. Everyone got so What fazinated me was , that the mysterious author of the rare book, whether it is Coronna or someone else, wanted the reader to discover his messages like a person would approach a stranger first , before he was a friend. First you see the outside, not knowing what the the inside will bring, and only by knowing the person more and more, understanding their mind and thoughts, and the way they think, knowing their innersts thoughts, you could understand the messages and what he wanted to say about his life.
    What a indeed rare book and what a mind!”

    posted Saturday, December 1 2007
  • Reachie | A Fresh Start?

    reachie | a fresh start? said:

    “What part of the code-breaking did you find most interesting? Did you "beat" Paul or Tom to a conclusion as they unraveled some of the mystery? Did you agree with the characters' conclusions? Could you understand the mesmerizing effect that a book or work of art could have on a person? Have you ever felt this pull? In what way is it exhilarating?
    ”

    posted Saturday, December 1 2007
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