The Traveler

The First Novel of "The Fourth Realm" Trilogy

By: John Twelve Hawks

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The 26-year-old has abandoned the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father and chosen instead to live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call themselves Harlequins, a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.

Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have inherited their father's gifts, have always protected themselves by living "off the Grid", that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor people in our modern society.

Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers. The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula, ruthless mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A colossal battle looms, one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time.

Moving from the back alleys of Prague to the heart of Los Angeles, from the high deserts of Arizona to a guarded research facility in New York, The Traveler explores a parallel world that exists alongside our own. John Twelve Hawks' stunningly suspenseful debut is an international publishing sensation that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

Listen to the second book in this series: The Dark River: The Fourth Realm, Book 2.

©2005 John Twelve Hawks (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This novel’s a stunner.... You won’t want to put the book down.” (People)

“The stuff that first-rate high-tech paranoid-schizophrenic thrillers are made of.” (Time)

“A fearless, brilliant action heroine (think Uma Thurman in Kill Bill); a secret history of the world; a tale of brother against brother... and nonstop action as the forces of good and evil battle it out....Readers won’t regret taking this wild ride.” (The Times-Picayune)

Interesting story

The story line is interesting. There is alot of written descriptions about how the victims are killed. Overall, I'm not impressed and will not get any more from this author.

Pretty disappointing

the story, its plot and ethics were generally interesting...they were the things that piqued my interest on this book and why i downloaded it, but the reader was really not to my taste. The English accent of the main character wasn't really believable, and I found the phrasing a bit strange. It was like the reader didn't really engage with the story he was telling. This made it very difficult for me to listen to and interfered with my ability to follow the story..i think i just kept zoning the reader out.

Please, do not read this book

I say don't read this because its a soap-box for the author. I usually love hearing an extra add-on from the author, but this time it was brutal. I wish he didn't speak at the beginning so I wouldn't have had any of his rhetoric tainting my listening.

As for the story, not bad idea, but too many times I had to say..."that would never happen," or "that's not the way I would do it."

Here a good rule of thumb that this novel did not pass. If, while listening to the book, you are pulled out of it, by the book itself, then its not good enterainment. This is true for movies too!

I would advise a pass on this one.

This could have been a decent listen, but unfortunately almost every aspect of this novel falls flat. Flat characters which are 1/2 inch deep with just the barest glimmer of backstory. Formulaic plot. Stilted dialog. The villains are about as cardboard as they come. Not a single original idea in this whole schlock of a travesty of storytelling. A Beyond dissapointing ending.

For a book about "travellers" there is remarkably little detail about the other realms.

Gaping plot holes abound. Nonsensical behaviour abounds as well.
It may make a better movie, only because it would be an action movie and in that case, plot and character development become secondary to action sequences.

I would advise a pass on this one.
Narrating is ok.

Wont by the sequel

Hmmm... the grid. Couldn't enjoy the book cuz the whole plot was based around the concept of the Grid. The author made the grid sound sound so evil and terrifying, while i saw his description as merely an invasion of privacy. Laughable plot = laughable book. I cant see the sequels being any better. Author should have tweaked the grid to be menacing to your average Joe, not just Travellers.

Heavy-handed and overdone

The book describes a dystopian near-future in which bad people use computers to watch all human activity and ensure compliance to rules. It's heavy-handed and preachey, and the quality of the writing is low. The technical content is weak, and the characters are all one-sided. Rather than listening to the book, I'd suggest instead getting a henna tattoo that reads "Technology is what makes bad people treat good people like sheep" -- it's slightly cheaper, much less painful, and about as subtle.

talking down

The book is pretty good, in parts it repeated alot and felt like it was talking down to me. Picks up and gets more interesting about half way through.

Sorry I bought it.

Soooo tired of the propaganda. Gave it up with two and a half hours to go. If being part of the vast machine means being able to escape this tedium, sign me up.

Disappointed

An absurd potpourri of action movie cliches, new age mumbo-jumbo and conpiracy theory chestnuts. Perhaps a writer who takes himself a bit less seriously might have made this odd mash-up of a novel bit more fun.

Tin foil hat, conspiracy theory, Pseudo New Age

Tin foil hat, conspiracy theory, Pseudo New Age - Garbage. Move along people! Nothing of value to read here in this book.