The Rule of Four

By: Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman

Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

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 500-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.

©2004 Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason (P)2004 Simon & Schuster Inc. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic reviews

"The authors, best friends since childhood, have made an impressive debut, a coming-of-age novel in the guise of a thriller, packed with history (real and invented) and intellectual excitement." (Booklist)
"A smart, swift, multitextured tale that both entertains and informs." (San Francisco Chronicle)
"[An] intriguing intellectual suspense novel." (Publishers Weekly)

Wrongly categorized genre

This book is more of a verbose coming of age novel than a mystery involving a historical book. The author seemed to repeat monotonous details in 10 different ways and I wasn't particularly interested in hearing it once. It took more than 4 hours of listening to get to some action and it felt like it should have ended about two hours before it actually ended. The premise of the ancient mystery was interesting but it was only about 20% of the novel.

Too Slow Moving

I wasn't even able to finish this book. It moved sooo slowly, and just didn't grab me at any point.

Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Have the characters seem more realistic. I couldn't feel for any of them.

What could Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Sounds like it was a first effort. The Fifth Gospel was a page turner. I couldn't put that on down. They seemed to overwork this book. It didn't seem to move along naturally.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jeff Woodman’s performances?

Sure.

What character would you cut from The Rule of Four?

The characters weren't the problem.

Dull, simply dull

An exercise in ego for the authors, this book dragged from the beginning. I finally gave up after the first 1/2. This is a yawner that drags on and on barely advancing the story while delving into details that stiffled the plot. Save your credit.

mishmash

i bought this book hoping it would be another "DaVinci Code" what i got, however, was a disjointed plot with uninspired writing. very disappointing.

Only barely listenable

I was expecting a code filled romp through Italian history, and what I got was a maudlin, derivative slog through one man’s relationship to his father. The characters are thin and unlikeable, the history laughably inaccurate, and not even in an interesting ‘Dan Brown’ way. The narrator can not pronounce ‘Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,’ which should be the bare minimum requirement for a professional production of this book. Don’t waste your time.

The sound of the narrator swallowing was to much.

Would you try another book from Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and/or Jeff Woodman?

No

How could the performance have been better?

10 minutes in I had to shut it off. You can hear the sound of the narrator swallowing between sentences. I couldn't take it anymore.

Could Not even finish

Jumped around and never really started. Just doesn't engage or go anywhere. Money wasted despite my attempt to try.

Save your time

I got this title because I was told by a family member that she had friends that liked it better than "The Da Vinci Code".

Well...with friends like that, who needs enemies.

This book was incredibly slow, and was more of a self-indulgent coming of age story than the thriller I anticipated. I have no interest in further exploring the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili."

If operating under the premise that it is a coming of age story, you typically have to like the characters. Not only were most of the characters hard to like, they were fairly annoying.

In defense of the book, it may be a better read than an audio book. I thought the narration was below average. Many of the women characters sounded like 80s Valley Girls (OMG!) and not Ivy League women, and much of that had to do with his tone than the written dialogue. Many of the men's voices were laughable.

This book was very disappointing, and I wouldn't dream of suggesting a friend read it.

Boring

Premise sounded good. However, the authors told the story instead of letting us live it. I could not finish. I could not keep characters straight. And I could not care less about what happened to them.