Four Rules

Author: (American) Thorne, translated by Zhang Ying and Xu Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-12
Features: A mysterious book hidden in codes, a strange and gruesome murder case on an Ivy League campus, a shocking mystery from the Renaissance, a suspenseful and thought-provoking coming-of-age novel with astonishing power and depth, leading you into an intellectual labyrinth of betrayal, madness, seduction, and love. Bestselling over 10 million copies worldwide, topping The New York Times Best Seller list for nine months! A champion on The Washington Post Best Seller list, The Los Angeles Times Best Seller list, The Denver Post Best Seller list, The San Francisco Chronicle Best Seller list, BOOKSENSE Best Seller list, the largest Barnes & Noble Best Seller list in the U.S., the Independent Booksellers of North Carolina Best Seller list, and the Best Seller lists of multiple Taiwanese bookstores such as、、. This book is about to be adapted into a film by Warner Bros. Pictures. If F. Scott Fitzgerald, Umberto Eco, and Dan Brown had co-authored a novel, the result would have been The Four Rules! — American bestselling author Nelson DeMille. Combining the mystery of The Da Vinci Code with elegant and delicate prose, it is a highly readable novel. — People Magazine. A fantastic novel where the hidden codes reveal a dark secret from the Renaissance. The author's erudition makes it a rare and enjoyable puzzle book! — The New York Times. A thrilling and addictive suspense novel. The public is right—this novel's dark undertones remind one of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose! — The New York Post. In the seemingly innocent campus of Princeton, a gunshot rings out, uncovering the unexpected truth behind the facade of academia. It all stems from an ancient book from the Renaissance era, The Dream of Love. This cryptic and obscure tome, written in coded language, marks the secret locations of invaluable Renaissance treasures. For five centuries, generations of scholars have poured over it, desperate to solve its hidden mysteries, yet none have succeeded. Paul, a soon-to-graduate Princeton student, has spent his four years studying The Dream of Love, now on the verge of cracking its secrets. To speed up his progress, he turns to his friend Tom for help. For Tom, studying this book is like inheriting his late father's lifelong passion, but The Dream of Love seems like a siren's curse, always ensnaring its researchers in obsession. After Tom begins studying it with Paul, his relationship with his girlfriend, Katy, is clearly affected. Caught between friendship and love, Tom is torn between advancing and retreating. Meanwhile, they stumble upon a long-lost diary. The clues in the diary are crucial to unlocking the secrets of The Dream of Love. Just as they think they have the final piece of the puzzle, the graduate student who gave them the diary, Bill, is shot and killed on campus. Amidst layers of suspicion and mystery, trust or betrayal becomes impossible to discern. Through the process of unraveling the puzzles, the book guides readers step by step into the shocking historical truth. Not only does it offer a gripping suspense, but it also explores the struggles of human nature and the tangled web of love and hate, creating a masterpiece that blends friendship and love, literature and history, betrayal and murder.