Rating: 
Summary: Unbelievable!
Review: I read somewhere that it took these two writers six years to write this book. It is truly amazing. I am a reader who did not enjoy The Secret History because I found it too slow and self important. I liked The Name of the Rose, but wish it had had a little more emotional heft to it. This book hit me where I live. It is brilliant, well written, and it has a lot of heart. (I should say that I hated Da Vinci Code, and am suspicious of anyone who liked it.) This is the real thing. The Princeton parts seemed a little slow at first (I would give the book 4.5 stars because of it, but that is not an option, thus 5 stars), but everything else was awesome. This book reminded why I love to read. Smarter than your average bear for sure!
Rating:
Summary: Have the right expectations
Review: The people who seem not to have enjoyed this book were expecting the wrong thing. If your idea of good writing is Dan Brown, if you think that's what character development and believable plot look like, then look elsewhere. Fine writing, meaningful scholarship, and real character development (particularly for a thriller) are what to look for here. This is for readers who are patient and sophisicated, not for those who want cheap thrills cheaply delivered. I was surprised -- very pleasantly surprised -- at what I found here. A fast-paced page-turner that can hold its own in the company of real writers, not cheap airport reads. Five stars for sure!
Rating:
Summary: I agree!
Review: I agree with other reviewers: Forget the hype! Don't be mislead into thinking this is another DA VINCI CODE or NAME OF THE ROSE. It is what it is--a well written and fast paced book that has some puzzles and twists and turns. Sure, it has some similarities to other books out there, but this one is different--it's fun!Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely boring, don't bother
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book. However, I feel it was just a description of college life at Princeton--over and over. There was no suspense, not likeable characters, and was EXTREMELY boring and hard to hold one's interest. They had a good subject to make a fantastic book and they did very little with it. It was a disappointment for me. After reading all of Cussler's, Brown's, Preston's, and Rollin's books, these authors will never be anything like them. They know how to tell a story.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly what I was expecting...
Review: From what I inquired from the book cover, I thought it was a Da Vinci Code copycat. It had a theme of mystery and suspense based in the summary... However after reading the book, this book is nothing like that. This book has more to do with friendship and the bonds of such a relationship than uncovering the mystery. Not exactly what I was expecting but it was very good and I liked it. The book can get boring and slow at times. It isn't a page-turner. I had to force myself to read the book at some moments. However it does pick up pace and does get exciting. This book is filled with details about the Rennaisance and Princeton. The information about Princeton was at times very useless. This is a good book and certainly worth your money. Just don't expect it to be a page-turner...
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the Hype!
Review: This book gets hyped and I was led to believe it is something like Umberto Ecco or Dan Brown. It is most certainly neither. I wanted to like this book, but it was just a bad experience. The Hypnerotomchica mystery is only a short part of the book, utterly superficial and most of all more than unbelievable. If you are interested in endless descriptions of Princeton campus life or of problems between a dead father and a son who rather has dates with his girlfriend than working on a far fetched mystery, then you might like this book. Otherwise it simply sucks.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good
Review: I loved this book. When I saw it was called Inginious by the New York Times, I wanted to buy it immediately, and it did not dissapoint. Lots of adventure and fun stuff, but also some parts that were very emotional and written well. If you are expecting Da Vinci, it is not quite that fast paced, but its still worth the price of admission! Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: I was prepared to love it...
Review: Plot sounds fabulous doesn't it? Described by the publisher as 'a tale of timeless intrigue, dazzling scholarship and great imaginative power', I just couldn't wait to dive into this thriller and escape! Who could resist catchy buzzwords & phrases like 'mysterious coded 500 year old manuscript, lost ancient diaries, hidden crypts'? Many who have now read 'The Da Vinci Code', or more intellectual thrillers such as 'The Name of the Rose', "The Dante Club" and so many other clever thrillers of merit are thirsting for more of the same. Instead, with 'The Rule of Four' I found way TOO much standard 'coming of age' and very little by way of suspense--despite the potential of a fantastic basic plot involving the very real and very rare Hypnerotomachia Poliphili... I found myself growing incredibly impatient with the slow & uneven pace of this novel. Although they say write about what you know [which the authors obviously did- therefore the 2 star rating], I just couldn't help thinking of our tireless glimpses into campus life and the concerns of the pallid main characters, as stale and irrelevant- an amateurish device to fill pages. I agree with the Booklist review, which said in part, that the novel 'occasionally betrays its origins as a post - college project'. It has that feel about it, which to be fair, may be forgiven in a first novel??? After finishing this book I was left with the sneaking suspicion that these two guys, riding on the staggering success of The Da Vinci Code, simply decided to try and crank out a commercial thriller...It has THAT feel to it too. If you are truly searching for a clever, well-written 'tale of timeless intrigue, dazzling scholarship and great imaginative power' try the lesser-known "Gospel" by Wilton Barnhardt; a big, fat satisfying read. Another would be "The Flanders Panel" by Arturo Perez-Reverte. Also recommended: Shadow of the Wind, Club Dumas, The Quincunx, The Alienist, The Eight...
Rating:
Summary: Amateur sleuthing hour
Review: I am half-way through this book and am still waiting for the action to begin. It's about some medieval book that is complex, might harbor secrets, people have been killed over, etc. etc. But at this point in the book, all we have is a bunch of Princeton undergraduates playing highjinks within a looming framework of angst and confusion. The characterizations are awful, the dialogue is unnatural and forced, the chapter transitions are childish (as if the authors had cut and pasted a bit of Clive Cussler), and there is utterly no momentum. I am so bored with this book, but I will keep going as it was a birthday present. This would never have been published had it not been for the success of Da Vinci Code. That book was deeper, better, more urgent, and more fun earlier and throughout. Clearly the publishers of Rule of Four saw some of the same things here as in Da Vinci Code: an old mystery, medieval, and with killings involved to protect secrets. However, The Rule of Four is almost a parody of bad medieval mystery writing -- a sort of "paint by numbers" undergraduate fiction effort -- and certainly is nowhere near Da Vinci Code in terms of action, suspense, or fascinating information.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: The book cover says Caldwell and Thomson have been writing this book since 1998, and it shows. So many parts of the book have a crafted quality I rarely have seen in books written in a year, as many authors do now. Scenes are set in fascinating places, underground tunnels to fancy eating clubs, and even the most boring of all settings, the library, comes to life as in few other novels (though my favorite is still the final library scene in The Name of the Rose -- nothing compares!). I think there are parts of this book that could have been cleaner. I felt at times things were not completely explained, but my friend who read the book said she thought it moved at the right pace, so more might've been too much. My favorite part of the book was not the codes, which others have mentioned. I actually preferred seeing the inside of Princeton, and meeting characters I cared about, which isn't what I expected from a book like this. As a first novel, I thought this was amazing. It is not quite as good as The Name of the Rose, hence 4 stars, but still definitely worth it!
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