Very hot off the heels of the Da Vinci Code, Caldwell and Thomason, both Ivy League alumnis, weave a tale of a secret locked in a 500 year manuscrit called the Hypnerotomachia.

Paul and Tom, with the help of their roomate Gil and Charlie, all students at Princeton, have their friendship tested on the cups of graduation and a breakthrough in Paul's thesis on the book. Strange events start to unravel as we find out someone may be after Paul's work

Through flashbacks, we are recounted the paths that led the roomates together, and in particular, the countless hours Tom and Paul spent solving the riddles encrypted within the book, how it would eventually consume them

The story includes many details on student life at Princeton and the very different personalities of each roommates

Pretty exciting, the novel hits very high intensity 3/4 into it as we are drawn into the solution the secret might reveal but there's a bit of a let down in the over-dramatization of the conclusion (the fire).. there's a very nice lyrical end to the novel that gives much hope, it's all very well done

The Rule Of Four is the first work of Caldwell and Thomason, which makes it all the more impressive