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)

Told friends and family

I started reading a chapter in the bookstore and was immediately engrossed. But before buying I checked Audible and found that it was a choice.
I'm 3/4 through this story. Normally I only listen to the books when driving. This one I'm listening to as I work on the computer and do many normal tasks.

Just can't put it down.
The story has many elements.

1.Thought provoking. The premise of big brother monitoring us and taking away our freedoms. It is close enough to reality that one can "suspend belief" as she/he listens.
2. The Narrator is perfect for the book instead of trying to change the voice to emulate a woman or different characters. For the most part he keeps his same pace and voice with some minor inflections. I liked this it was more like reading the book than listening to a play.
3.A great take on spirituality and mysticism. Nothing new just extracts from major religions.
5.Finally there is lots of action and a intricate plot.

I haven't written a review this positive since I listened to the story of Pi. This is a book I feel like saying to every friend I meet, have you read the traveler. Awsome you have to pick it up.

Would make a great movie!

This terrific story, was similar in story line to the Matrix but with a much more believable base.
The author created characters you cared about and the pace was perfect. Plenty of action, not just for the sake of action but to further the story always. Scott Brick shined as usual as narrator and brought everything to life with his unerring style.
Looking forward to the next installment. The scenes in the book are perfect for a movie, I hope one comes of it.

Really beneath Brick

Scott Brick brings this clunker to life as he could for your local phone book. Sadly, this material is really not worth his talent.

The plot is standard Orwell ripoff with predictable over-the-top bad guys who are puppeteers for the gubmit. The good guys are supposed to be heroic, but how heroic is it to hide from the system rather than openly challenge it? They end up looking so scared and pathetic that you sometimes find yourself hoping they'll just lose that next sword fight and end their misery. But, no chance of that unless one decides to stop being maudlin and morose. If one of them starts to enjoy life they are guaranteed to lose the next sword fight. Evidently heroic misery is its own reward.

All of that would be forgiveable if the plot were the least bit imaginative. It's not. I've read better comic book plots.

Twelve Hawks introduces the book by claiming he "lives off the grid", yet here we are buying his book from the heart of the grid. I'm guessing the grid knows where to send his royalty checks. He's taking himself way too seriously.

I tried so hard to like this book

I won't disparage anyone who enjoyed this book, but despite wanting to like it so much, I could barely bring myself to listen to it. Scott Brick is one of my favorite readers, but even he couldn't save this book. The overall plot has some interesting ideas, but the characters are copy and pasted cliches from every hollywood movie you've ever seen. The writing is tedious and flat. I thought if I had to listen to the phrase "vast machine" one more time I was going to throw up.

Just happy to be done with this book!

This audiobook started with some interesting ideas, but then strayed from them to give a lecture on the problems of modern society. The authur sounds like a complete lunatic and the narrator would be better suited reading sappy poetry; both factors make this audiobook torture to listen to. Don't waste your time.

It makes you stop...and think,

I have to be honest, I only got this book because it was read by Scott Brick.
I knew I would enjoy it. I never knew how much it would make me stop and think.
This book was very different from his usual reads. More than just a mystery or fantasy, this book has a spiritual element. As I listened, I was reminded of Orwell's "1984", and it caused me to wonder just how close to "Big Brother" we have gotten. John Twelve Hawks,through the characters he created in this book, asks a lot of questions. The answers perhaps are a little too scary for us to hear.

Dreadful!!!

This was an awful book from start to finish. I was never interested in the plot or any of the characters.
It felt like nothing was ever going to happen and unfortunately for me (and any other reader or listener) nothing ever does.

Poorly written, uninteresting linear plot and hollow characters - no one wonder John Twelve Hawks wants his true identity to remain a secret.

Give this one a miss!

Awesome book

An excellent and thought provoking work that blends modern life, religious ideas, and speaks to the heart of our concepts of freedom. This book will have you questioning ideas you have taken for granted and introduce concepts you have yet to consider. I wait with bated breath for the next installation and so will you! Enjoy and beware of The Grid.

More than half way thru and no

I am more than half way thru with no sign of any "Traveling". Just heavy-handed violence and cynicism. However, I am going to be "traveling" on to another audiobook. This one is just too paranoid and cynical. I'm sorry that I wasted a credit on this. Oh, and the reader is disappointing as well. Please don't waste a credit, just wait for the movie to show up on the USA Network.

Wow! I loved this book!

Although I could be called a conspiracy theorist, I don't believe some things can be called theories once there is hard evidence attached to it. The fact is American citizens, as well as citizens of the globe, are losing their freedom to the powers that be. We are watched continuously as we drive to work, shop, and live our lives. With one swipe of a card our entire history becomes apparent. Of course, our leaders claim it's all in the name of safety. They create events to keep us in fear. In fear we agree to lose our privacy because our government will keep us safe. But at what cost? "The Traveler" dives into the realm of the not so distant future. As a matter of fact, everything the author writes about is real. There are really facial recognition cameras, identity chips, etc. This book brings to life a frightening reality of what is already happening, has already happened. It makes us aware of the fight we need to put up for our freedom, instead of just rolling over and playing dead. A great scenario of the dangers of our lack of privacy is in the "Ordering Pizza in 2010" short on the internet. This isn't so far away, and we should really take our personal freedoms much more seriously. "The Traveler" was entertaining, fast paced, well thought out and executed with great characters! A must read.

Conspiracies and Cliches

This audiobook is introduced by the author, who declares himself somewhat dramatically as 'off the grid', meaning he exists outside of any governmental control and influence, rejecting technology that can be used to monitor him. This claim is supported by the fact the audio quality at this point sounds like he is talking from a distant bunker using a homemade telephone.

Although a lot of what he says about the dangers of our surveillance society and the way in which our rights are being constantly eroded are credible and should be highlighted, he really didn't need to write this book. If you have an allergy to plot cliches, character stereotypes and books that are written where any storyline is clearly only of secondary consideration to the authors true agenda, then expect to erupt into rashes, boils and whatever other symptoms by which your allergy manifests itself. The story is constantly guided into long, tedious descriptions of 'real' tactics by which the evil government and their shady, murderous operatives monitor and control us all. Ironically, this book would be a case-study in manipulating thought it it hadn't been written using a sledge-hammer ...metaphortically speaking.

Coincidentally, the authors pretentious middle name is exactly the percentage-chance of my reading any other books by him. Is there a conspiracy here?

Finally, and somewhat futilely, I would like to state that I am not a secret government operative, infiltrating Audible with dismissive reviews to discredit 'off the grid' authors who might be getting too close to the truth. No really, I'm not.

Fabulous Tale

One of the best pieces of fiction I've heard in a long time. Or is it fiction? Don't keep us in suspence too long, John. I'm hooked.

Superb storytelling - can't wait for part 2

Edgy sense of paranoia, but with clear links to today's society, this thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way to the end! Excellent - can't wait for the next one!

I enjoyed it so much I listened twice!!

This is my second book from Audible, what can I say but fantastic. After listening to it once, I set about it again days later. Almost made me a technophobe though. Dare i read the next part? Too right! An excellent idea based around technology we all know about, taken one step further just to scare us all from using it!! BRILLIANT.

Whens the next part

Hooked me from the first words

As the title says When is the next part?