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Search - The Rule Of Four
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The Rule Of Four Author: |
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Book Information
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Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Abridged), Audio CD (Abridged), Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio CD (Unabridged), Paperback
Book Description:
A mysterious coded manuscript, a violent Ivy League murder, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide in a labyrinth of betrayal, madness, and genius.
Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets -- to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled -- until an ancient diary surfaces. What Tom and Paul discover inside shocks even them: proof that the location of a hidden crypt has been ciphered within the pages of the obscure Renaissance text.
Armed with this final clue, the two friends delve into the bizarre world of the Hypnerotomachia -- a world of forgotten erudition, strange sexual appetites, and terrible violence. But just as they begin to realize the magnitude of their discovery, Princeton's snowy campus is rocked: a longtime student of the book is murdered, shot dead in the hushed halls of the history department. A tale of timeless intrigue, dazzling scholarship, and great imaginative power, The Rule of Four is the story of a young man divided between the future's promise and the past's allure, guided only by friendship and love.
Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets -- to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled -- until an ancient diary surfaces. What Tom and Paul discover inside shocks even them: proof that the location of a hidden crypt has been ciphered within the pages of the obscure Renaissance text.
Armed with this final clue, the two friends delve into the bizarre world of the Hypnerotomachia -- a world of forgotten erudition, strange sexual appetites, and terrible violence. But just as they begin to realize the magnitude of their discovery, Princeton's snowy campus is rocked: a longtime student of the book is murdered, shot dead in the hushed halls of the history department. A tale of timeless intrigue, dazzling scholarship, and great imaginative power, The Rule of Four is the story of a young man divided between the future's promise and the past's allure, guided only by friendship and love.
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Top Member Book Reviews
Charlie M. (
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Convoluted, meandering and a waste of time. This is the kind of book that really makes you question the publishing industry choices of what is worth printing. What could have been an interesting story of a quest for a missing treasure is bogged down by confusing text and the desire to make the book seem scholarly. Supposedly, the authors took 6 years to write this book. I hope they spend the next 6 on something more productive.
Rebecka S. (
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
I don't even know what to say about this book. It was hard to read and it was hard to understand what was going on. I can't say that I didn't like it because I would have stopped reading it if that was the case. But I wouldn't read it again.
I very much enjoyed The Da Vinci Code...but this one just didn't do it for me. I'm sorry, I don't see how you can compare the two...okay they are both about history, art, puzzles, and murder...but I did not get into this one near as much as I did the Da Vinci Code (which fascinated me).
Stacey S. (
5 member(s) found this review helpful.
A thoroughly engaging read on the mysteries and intricacies of an ancient text, and the ups and downs of college friendships. A well thought-out and executed story.
Alyssa (
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Picked this up at the airport and was engrossed before I even boarded my plane. Fast moving plot mixed with historical intrigue reminiscent of the Da Vinci Code, though I enjoyed this book BETTER! Great, great book.
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Eh. I finished it, and it read right along. Sort of a rather watered down Davinci Code encased in reliving one's college years. And I'm not sure I believe that it's that cold and snowy in Princeton - I went to school in MN and we didn't get snow on Easter. But that is a minor detail. The book is basically a weak thriller surrounding a lot of information about a mysterious ancient text. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, and if you are in to "puzzle" books, you might, too. If you haven't yet, though, I'd say read Davinci Code or that author's other work first.
Jessica W. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Good mystery, hard to get in to
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Terrible. Pseudo-intellecutal.
Patti S. (
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
The strength of "The Rule of Four" comes from its honest-yet-idealistic view of college life at Princeton. Tom, the narrator of the novel, evokes the exhiliration and frustration of those years effortlessly, and his academic and emotional triumphs and failures ring true. While Tom does not make me wish that I'd gone to Princeton - it's depicted as even more blue-blood than I could have imagined - he makes me want to book plane tickets for the next Chapel Hill reunion.
Amber J. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I enjoyed this book. It's a bit more on the intellectual side than similar books like the DaVinci Code or Angels & Demons, but similar. It was predictable in some places but surprising in others. Overall, an interesting read.
W. R. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
* * *. Mystery. Some university students attempt to decode an ancient manuscript previously attempted by former alumni/scholars.
This is not the Da Vinci Code. There is no page-turning action, except for the climax. It's more of a cerebral read. The first part is tough because the authors immediately hit us with the historic facts and puzzles. Underlining names with a highlighter helps. Nevertheless, the present day characters seem real, which is a plus.
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Please Rate these Book Reviews
Really interesting/fun read about two Princeton students attempting to solve a mystery about a Renaissance text.
I was totally pulled in by the fact that this novel investigates a real literary puzzle that was recently solved. After reading it, I queried the internet to find the true answer...the truth was nowhere as thrilling.
I rank this up with "Angels & Demons" which means it was much better than "The DaVinci Code".
Please note that this book was purchased from a public library sale, so there will be a few places in the book with the libraries stamp on it. Thanks.
Very much like the Da Vinci code, historical codes and secrets protected until modern day. Quick paced read.
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.
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