The rule of four
An ivy league murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide memorably in The rule of four -- a brilliant work of fiction that weaves together suspense and scholarship, high art and unimaginable treachery. It's Easter at Princeton. Seniors are scrambling...
| Main Author: | Caldwell, Ian, 1976- |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | Thomason, Dustin. |
| Format: | Books Print Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Dial Press,
2004.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: |
An ivy league murder, a mysterious coded manuscript, and the secrets of a Renaissance prince collide memorably in The rule of four -- a brilliant work of fiction that weaves together suspense and scholarship, high art and unimaginable treachery. It's Easter at Princeton. Seniors are scrambling to finish their theses. And two students, Tom Sullivan and Paul Harris, are a hair's breadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili -- a renowned text attributed to an Italian nobleman, a work that has baffled scholars since its publication in 1499. For Tom, their research has been a link to his family's past -- and an obstacle to the woman he loves. For Paul, it has become an obsession, the very reason for living. But as their deadline looms, research has stalled -- until a long-lost diary surfaces with a vital clue. And when a fellow researcher is murdered just hours later, Tom and Paul realize that they are not the first to glimpse the Hypnerotomachia 's secrets. Suddenly the stakes are raised, and as the two friends sift through the codes and riddles at the heart of the text, they are beginning to see the manuscript in a new light -- not simply as a story of faith, eroticism and pedantry, but as a bizarre, coded mathematical maze. And as they come closer and closer to deciphering the final puzzle of a book that has shattered careers, friendships and families, they know that their own lives are in mortal danger. Because at least one person has been killed for knowing too much. And they know even more. From the streets of fifteenth-century Rome to the rarified realm of the Ivy League, from a shocking 500 year-old murder scene to the drama of a young man's coming of age, The rule of four takes us on an entertaining, illuminating tour of history -- as it builds to a pinnacle of nearly unbearable suspense. |
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| Item Description: |
"A novel"--Jacket. |
| Physical Description: |
372 p. : ill., map ; 25 cm. |
| ISBN: |
9780385337120 0385337124 0385337116 9780385337113 |
| Author Notes: |
Ian Caldwell is an American novelist who co-authored the 2004 novel The Rule of Four. His second book, The Fifth Gospel, was published in 2015. He was born in Virginia where he met his future writing collaborator, Dustin Thomason. Caldwell was a Phi Beta Kappa at Princeton University where he graduated in 1998 with a degree in history. After college, while working with Thomason on their first novel, Caldwell worked at MicroStrategy in Tyson Corner and taught test preparation for Kaplan. After graduating from their respective colleges, Caldwell began working with Thomason on the novel The Rule of Four. After writing together for a summer, the two continued to collaborate online for the next five years. The plot centers on four Princeton seniors attempting to solve a mystery related to the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, an Italian work from the early Renaissance. The book was published by Dial Press in 2004, spent 49 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. It took Caldwell ten years to complete his second work, The Fifth Gospel, which was published by Simon and Schuster in 2015. This solo work tells the fictional story of two brothers, both priests, exploring the Diatessaron, the "fifth" gospel, and how it might lead to reconciliation between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. (Bowker Author Biography) |