The Rule of Four
by Dustin Thomason, Ian Caldwell
List Price:
Our Price: $1.62
You Save: $6.37 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Dustin Thomason, Ian CaldwellEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2005-06-28
ISBN: 0440241359
Number of pages: 464
Publisher: Dell
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780440241355
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Book Reviews of The Rule of Four
Book Review: Insipid Trash, But It May Have One Good Use
Summary: 2 Stars
I read "The Rule of Four" when it first came out, and oddly, could remember little about it when I picked it up again. But, given the popularity of works like "The DaVinci Code," I thought I would give this genre piece a second look. I can see why I remembered nothing about the book on the "second read." It's abysmally bad.
The other reviews in this thread, good and bad, do an excellent job of summarizing plot and key elements. I will add nothing to that here. I will say that, with only one class in art history under my belt in my lifetime, I figured out the "puzzle" halfway through the book, which rapidly degenerated after the introduction into nothing more than into a long, drawn out series of "chase scenes" with a dull and forgettable climax. The book has almost nothing by way of character development, and the plot is so thin, it might as well be printed on cheesecloth. The flyleaf touts the fact that it was a serious work by star students at Princeton over six years. I wonder what they were actually doing, since they were obviously not writing a book.
I do think that this book would have one use. A reasonably talented high school student with an interest in art history might find it a fun way to discover some basic facts about Botticelli and the later Florence of Lorenzo, and might glean some measure of entertainment out of the "Hardy Boys" plotline. But that's about all.
Dreadful writing, boring "thrill" scenes, amateur and transparent plotting, and no meaningful character development to speak of do not a "thriller" make. If you like this genre of novel, I urge books like "The Club Dumas" and "Foucault's Pendulum." But "The Rule of Four?" Pseudo-intellectual ripped-off trash with not even the stupid fun of a fictionally viable "conspiracy theory" to make it an easier swallow.
NO recommendation.
Summary of The Rule of Four
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
Contemporary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Contemporary Books
Phantomby Susan Kay
Doubleday; Published: 1990-09-19; Hardcover; Book
Lonesome Doveby Larry McMurtry
Perfection Learning; Published: 1988-12; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Waiting in Vainby Colin Channer
One World/Ballantine; Published: 1998-06-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $21.50
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guideby Douglas Adams
Wings; Published: 1996-01-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.99
Seabiscuit: An American Legendby Laura Hillenbrand
Published: 2007-05; Unknown Binding; Book
Best price: $29.99
Redeeming Loveby Francine Rivers
Monarch Books; Published: 2004-08-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.25
Price in other shops:
Helpby Kathryn Stockett
Putnam; Published: 2009; Paperback; Book
The Helpby Kathryn Stockett
Penguin Audio; Published: 2009-02-10; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $22.47
Price in other shops:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabanby J. K. Rowling
Raincoast Book Dist Ltd; Published: 2000-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireby J. K. Rowling
Raincoast Books; Published: 2000-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.75
Similar Books and other products
The Golden Thread: The Ageless Wisdom of the Western Mystery Traditionsby Joscelyn Godwin
Quest Books; Published: 2007-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.81
Price in other shops:
The Poe Shadow: A Novelby Matthew Pearl
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2007-07-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.70
Price in other shops:
The Eightby Katherine Neville
Ballantine Books; Published: 1997-06-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
The Historianby Elizabeth Kostova
Back Bay Books; Published: 2009-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.17
Price in other shops:
The Secret Supper: A Novelby Javier Sierra
Washington Square Press; Published: 2007-03-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Dante Club: A Novelby Matthew Pearl
Ballantine Books; Published: 2006-06-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
The Geographer's Libraryby Jon Fasman
Published: 2006-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.68
Price in other shops:
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: The Strife of Love in a Dreamby Francesco Colonna
Thames & Hudson; Published: 2005-06-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.08
Price in other shops:
Codexby Lev Grossman
Harvest Books; Published: 2005-05-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Real Rule of Four: The Unauthorized Guide to The New York Times #1 Bestsellerby Joscelyn Godwin
The Disinformation Company; Published: 2005-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.14
Price in other shops: