The Thousand

A Novel

By: Kevin Guilfoile

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

In 500 BC, a mysterious ship appeared off the coast of what is now Italy. A man disembarked to address the frightened crowd along the shore. He called himself Pythagoras, and when he was done speaking, a thousand men and women abandoned their lives to follow him; his disciples would influence western philosophy, science, and mathematics for all time. Chicago, the present. Solomon Gold has tapped into valuable and dangerous secrets while composing his magnum opus: the Gold Completion of Mozart's infamous unfinished requiem. After he is murdered, his brilliant daughter - a girl whose uncanny mental gifts have left her both powerful and troubled - finds herself racing to understand his composition, his murder, and, as violence erupts all around her, a fractured, ancient cult descended from the original disciples of Pythagoras. The Thousand is ringing confirmation of Kevin Guilfoile's enormous talent.

©2010 Kevin Guilfoile (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Kevin Guilfoile's riveting new novel defies pigeon-holing. Part thriller, part dystopic science fiction.... You'll stay up all night until the pieces fall into place." (Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author of Hardball)

Why - oh WHY did I ever start this one?!?!?

This is like listening to an unabridged DICTIONARY!! Lots and lots and LOTS of words, words, words. Almost no character development and nothing resembling a coherent PLOT!! I may be a glutton for punishment - but I'm nearly half way through this tome - - - and the author still hasn't coughed up a good clue as to where he's going with all the "threads" he seems to be weaving. I can't tell whether he's trying to make a figurative scarf - - or a pair of mittens - - or a pair of jockey shorts - - - and he hasn't given any evidence that HE knows either!!

I hate to give up on a book once I have this much time invested in it - - - but I have drawn a line in the proverbial sand. If the author doesn't deliver - something - by the end of Audible's "Part I" - BOTH parts are going in the digital trash bin.

Thriller? Not.

I'm more than willing to suspend disbelief -- that's what fiction's for! -- but the plot of this book was too far-fetched for me. The subplots seemed to take over the main plot, and ultimately it was difficult to care very much about a secret held by a group of 1000 feuding Pythagoreans, who sounded like a bunch of highstrung MENSA egoists. Even the narrator took on an over-refined voice. Naturally, the bluecollar cop and the ex-jock wanna-be boyfriend were the few characters with any heart, or common sense for that matter. I guess intellectuals are either very bad people or very boring ones.

High drama that manages to bore.

If you think Dan Brown is a good writer you will think this is good.
If you find soap operas engaging you will like this.
I do not.
Enough said?