{"id":137,"date":"2008-09-01T00:02:49","date_gmt":"2008-09-01T04:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=137"},"modified":"2008-09-01T00:02:49","modified_gmt":"2008-09-01T04:02:49","slug":"the-rule-of-four-by-ian-caldwell-and-dustin-thomason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.amberstults.com\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This book was described to me as the “smart person’s version of The Da Vinci Code<\/em>.”\u00c2\u00a0 Since I’ve only read The Rule of Four<\/em>, I can’t compare the two books for you and let you know if the description is true or not.\u00c2\u00a0 What I can tell you is that this book kept my attention almost nonstop.<\/p>\n

This is the first book co-written by long-time friends Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s been sitting on my TBR pile for many years.\u00c2\u00a0 The main character, Tom Sullivan,\u00c2\u00a0grew up in Columbus, Ohio.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried to research how the Columbus connection came into the book but could not link Caldwell or Thomason to Columbus at all.\u00c2\u00a0 However it happened I have to give them credit for getting the details right.\u00c2\u00a0 In one instance, they describe an Edward Hopper painting included in a Columbus Museum of Art calendar.\u00c2\u00a0 There is no possibility it could be mistaken for any painting other than Morning Sun<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tom Sullivan is a senior at Princeton University living on campus with his three roommates.\u00c2\u00a0 They are Paul Harris, Charlie Freeman and Gil Rankin.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom’s father devoted his life to trying to decipher the secret behind the book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Paul has made the book the topic of his senior thesis.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom assists Paul but keeps backing away from the commitment; he’s seen firsthand what the obsession did to his father and what the senior thesis is now doing to Paul.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom doesn’t want it ruining his life too.\u00c2\u00a0 Charlie is a premed major and the moral compass of the roommates.\u00c2\u00a0 Gil is the roommate with all the “right” connections who wants to do his own thing but places a high value on his friendships.\u00c2\u00a0 The title of the book refers to the four roommates and a system of measurement.<\/p>\n

Some people will find the book dreary and others will find it exciting.\u00c2\u00a0 Looking at the Amazon reviews people either love this book or hate it.\u00c2\u00a0 The story begins on Easter weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 In the first ten chapters only one or two hours of the weekend have passed but the roommates have all been introduced, been chased through some underground tunnels, and lost their pursuers in the Nude Olympics crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 Murder, academic intrigues, cracked codes and more follow in the remaining chapters.\u00c2\u00a0 There was one bit in the timeline about three-fourths of the way in the book where I got lost and that is when my attention wavered a bit.\u00c2\u00a0 However, soon things got back on track.\u00c2\u00a0 The ending wasn’t a surprise but it was satisfying.<\/p>\n

Somewhere on the internet I read Caldwell and Thomason were working on a second novel together.\u00c2\u00a0 It hasn’t been released so it can be assumed it wasn’t finished or wasn’t picked up by a publisher.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s too bad; after finally reading their debut novel I was looking forward to their sophomore effort.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This book was described to me as the “smart person’s version of The Da Vinci Code.”\u00c2\u00a0 Since I’ve only read The Rule of Four, I can’t compare the two books for you and let you know if the description is true or not.\u00c2\u00a0 What I can tell you is that this book kept my attention… Continue reading The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24,36,35,30],"class_list":["post-137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-book","tag-dustin-thomason","tag-ian-caldwell","tag-the-rule-of-four","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t