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)

fascinating story but ...

It was a most interesting story (at least the part I heard) but listening to this book (as opposed to reading) makes the banality of the dialog that much harder to bear.

Huh...?

... I am not sure what happened here. I have had so many good experiences with audible and the books in the collection that I was dumbfounded by the poor quality of the execution of this reading. Not everything in print is for everyone and you always take chances, and I don?t really mind having to put down a book that is not for me, but even if you could get through this book via a standard reading, you would be hard pressed to make it through the audio book version. It is so without interest and feeling that I feel compelled to ask for my money back.

I was even more dismayed by the fact that other audio books I have been interested in are read by the same actor/reader (Jeff Woodman) which of course now I will never spend my good money on based on this experience. I will admit that Mr. Woodman did not have much to work with in the first place.

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.

Amazingly bad; Tedious and painful.

This wouldn't have been published if it weren't for the success of Da Vinci code.

I ended up finishing it, but I'm not sure why. The threadbare, incomprehensible and idiotic plot combine with moronic dialog and a belief that pointless detail is a good thing. Cartoonish characters don't help either.

If someone recommends this book, don't listen to anything they say about books after that. Either they don't read much, or like to follow the crowd.

Poorly written

The premise of the book isn't too bad, but it's very poorly structured and executed. It lacks all of the immediacy of a Dan Brown novel, where the action all takes place in a single day, and instead is filled with flashbacks, rambling plot expositions and a host of unnecessary characters. I really thought I'd enjoy this book, but it was a struggle to finish it.

My First Audible Mistake

I have had nothing but great listening experiences with Audible . . .until this one. Loved The Life of Pi, Eragon, Short History of Nearly Everything, and above all, Middlesex. But this one . . . don't get me started. Let's just say that I concur with reviewers who found the central book thing interesting but were turned off by the boring lives and thoughts of these students. Are students actually so vapid and asexual at Princeton? I stuck in there just to see what the rare book mystery was. When that was wrapped up 3/4 of the way into the book I jumped ship. I think I know the precise market for this book: bright, socially-inept teenagers bound for Princeton. If that's you, enjoy.

Pretty Boring

struggling to make it to the next chapters. so far i learned allot of what i already new about classism at princeton. no idea what the thread is that will lead me to the exciting plot noted by other readers. this is a good teen read with some R rated references to body parts and gore.

A (very) poor man's Da Vinci Code

Don't be drawn in by the comparisons to Dan Brown's book.