The Rule of Four

Starred review from March 15, 2004
Caldwell and Thomason's intriguing intellectual suspense novel stars four brainy roommates at Princeton, two of whom have links to a mysterious 15th-century manuscript, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
. This rare text (a real book) contains embedded codes revealing the location of a buried Roman treasure. Comparisons to The Da Vinci Code
are inevitable, but Caldwell and Thomason's book is the more cerebral—and better written—of the two: think Dan Brown by way of Donna Tartt and Umberto Eco. The four seniors are Tom Sullivan, Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin. Tom, the narrator, is the son of a Renaissance scholar who spent his life studying the ancient book, "an encyclopedia masquerading as a novel, a dissertation on everything from architecture to zoology." The manuscript is also an endless source of fascination for Paul, who sees it as "a siren, a fetching song on a distant shore, all claws and clutches in person. You court her at your risk." This debut novel's range of topics almost rivals the Hypnerotomachia
's itself, including etymology, Renaissance art and architecture, Princeton eating clubs, friendship, steganography (riddles) and self-interpreting manuscripts. It's a complicated, intricate and sometimes difficult read, but that's the point and the pleasure. There are murders, romances, dangers and detection, and by the end the heroes are in a race not only to solve the puzzle, but also to stay alive. Readers might be tempted to buy their own copy of the Hypnerotomachia
and have a go at the puzzle. After all, Caldwell and Thomason have done most of the heavy deciphering—all that's left is to solve the final riddle, head for Rome and start digging. Agent, Nicholas Ellison.
(May 4)

Forecast
:You don't have to be an expert at decoding to see that an excellent cover, high production values throughout, a gripping story, a strong publisher push and reader interest still stirred up by
The Da Vinci Code will add up to big numbers for this one
.

July 5, 2004
This debut novel is written in the first person and in present tense, almost as if Caldwell and Thomason had an audio narration in mind. Unfortunately, their cerebral treasure hunt is dense with references to Renaissance art, arcane literature, complex riddles and 500-year-old events that are almost impossible to comprehend by ear; think Bonfire of the Vanities
by Girolamo Savonarola, instead of Tom Wolfe. Not that reader Hamilton doesn't provide some assistance. He does an admirable job of conveying the youthful exuberance and intensity of the novel's narrator, Princeton senior Tom Sullivan, while breezing through some pretty tough tongue-twisters, including the oft-mentioned 15th-century manuscript at the heart of this intellectual suspense tale, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Still, unless listeners opt to ignore the esoterica and settle for a no-frills tale of two brainy college pals obsessed with an ancient tome and its coded secret of buried treasure, they may find themselves having to make annoyingly frequent stops, backups and replays before the archaeological, etymological, historical and religious facts register in a meaningful way. Simultaneous release with the Dial hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 15).