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The Rule of Four
Product Group: Book
Publisher: The Dial Press (2004-05-11)
ISBN: 0385337116
EAN: 9780385337113
Dewey Decimal #: 813.6
Hardcover: 384 pages
Edition: 1St Edition
Release Date: 2004-05-11
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
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 breadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili—a renowned text attributed to an Italian nobleman, a work that has baffled scholars since its publication in 1499. For Tom, their research has been a link to his family's past—and an obstacle to the woman he loves. For Paul, it has become an obsession, the very reason for living. But as their deadline looms, research has stalled—until a long-lost diary surfaces with a vital clue. And when a fellow researcher is murdered just hours later, Tom and Paul realize that they are not the first to glimpse the Hypnerotomachia 's secrets.
Suddenly the stakes are raised, and as the two friends sift through the codes and riddles at the heart of the text, they are beginnning to see the manuscript in a new light—not simply as a story of faith, eroticism and pedantry, but as a bizarre, coded mathematical maze. And as they come closer and closer to deciphering the final puzzle of a book that has shattered careers, friendships and families, they know that their own lives are in mortal danger. Because at least one person has been killed for knowing too much. And they know even more.
From the streets of fifteenth-century Rome to the rarified realm of the Ivy League, from a shocking 500 year-old murder scene to the drama of a young man's coming of age, The Rule of Four takes us on an entertaining, illuminating tour of history—as it builds to a pinnacle of nearly unbearable suspense.
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Customer Reviews
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Insight
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-02-14
I don't know much. Because of this, I read a lot, trying to improve on this condition. If a book has but one insight, phrase, idea that startles me into thinking differently or brings me to an understanding with more depth, then that book has been well worth my time. The Rule of Four may have all the literary faults others have listed in their reviews. I don't know. I'm not qualified to say. My amateur opinion is that this book has not one single insight, phrase or idea that was helpful and important for me to read--it has many. Thanks to the authors for making their insights and knowledge available to me to read and ponder and for doing so with an interesting story and many moments of words beautifully joined together.
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Interesting idea, much promise - doesn't deliver
Rating  (2)
Date: 2010-01-07
I about 2/3 of the way through it and never finished. I just didn't care enough about the characters or the riddle they were trying to solve. The story starts out interesting enough. The back stories on the characters and how they got to Princeton was great too. It was too long, too much repetition and just not interesting enough to finsih.
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Waste of time written by pretentious snobs, zero stars
Rating  (1)
Date: 2010-01-06
It seems almost impossible to believe that this was on any best seller's list. If you must read this I suggest drinking plenty of coffee and possibly a mouth guard or something to stop your teeth from grinding. This novel was characterized as a thriller for those who like problem solving; unfortunately it was far from thrilling, contained no problems to solve and had little if any plot. I'm actually mad that I even wasted my time reading this crap.
One word really sums up this book: pretentious
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HORRIBLE
Rating (1)
Date: 2009-12-26
I can't believe I read the whole thing. I kept hoping it would get better, that something would happen...nothing did. First of all, college kids don't act this way; as if they were 45 or 50 years old. Let's just say, there was way too much latent stuff going on between the friends and rivals and mentors...It just seems as if the authors promoted a lot of touching and male nakedness going on. Weird. If you got rid of all the useless drivel about Princeton, the book would be 10 pages long. It appears as if the authors wanted a memoir of their time at Princeton, not to actually write a story; let alone make it somewhat interesting. The characters were uninteresting and boring. The plot was way too unbelievable. The characters were able to walk around crime scenes and escape from police as if they were invisible. The authors were far out of their league. I wish I could have the time back that I spent reading this wreck.
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Terrific Read
Rating  (4)
Date: 2009-11-28
I understand where the complaints come from. I actually picked this book up years ago and found the opening fascinating and yet didn't get past 100 pages or so. A few days ago I decided to pick it up again and read it front to back. LOved it.
I can see where some say it is wordy. It sometimes is. And yet I loved the detail, the metaphors and the genuine feel of "life" this books conveys.
There's alot more "life" in this book than most suspense novels. I enjoyed that.
I followed the timeline fairly easily.
I do think there was too much round and round the merry-go-round after awhile. I guess that's where the wordiness works against them. Too many metaphors. Too many similies. Too many descriptions of snow. Too many philosophical looks at the relationships. Too many 500 yr old historical figures to keep track of. They built up some good suspense and then decided to divert from it for too long especially in the second half of the book.
One plot point that seemed unnecessary was Charlie getting hurt and being hospitalized. Or at least it dragged on too long.
So yeah I think some trimming would have helped. But you don't want to trim and lose the "life and vitality" that leaps of the pages during much of the book. I read a few release suspense novels in the week before I picked this book back up and they were mostly generic in comparison to this book. But Rule of Four could hit us less over the head with the reference book. And work more on some of the plot points.
The ending was a downer of sorts. But a problem for most stories. It's much easier to build up a story than to end it properly.
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Retail Price: $24.00
Amazon.com's Price:$0.01
That's 100% Off!
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