- Hardcover: 358 pages
- Publisher: Crown (May 12 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0609602535
- ISBN-13: 978-0609602539
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.7 x 4.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 771 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,258,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A U.S. agent and a Columbia University professor race to find a 16th-century manuscript in this intriguing debut thriller. Rabb imagines a Swiss monk called Eisenreich, a contemporary of Machiavelli's, who wrote a long-suppressed book called On Supremacy, an outline for world conquest that goes far beyond the ruminations of The Prince. When a group of conservative ideologues decides to put a modern version of the plan into action, the task of stopping them falls to undercover agent Sarah Trent (who worked for several members of the right-wing committee's inner sanctum during an earlier phase of her espionage career) and Xander Jaspers, a brilliant young academic who eventually unravels the intricacies of the plan. The cabal is led by the mysterious "overseer" of the title; his minions include a Limbaugh-like demagogue, a brainwashing "educator" in charge of producing footsoldiers to carry out the plan and a prominent conservative financier. Trent and Jaspers are a quirky, entertaining couple, and their hunt for the historical prize incorporates many tightly written scenes (although the scenes in which Trent and Jaspers are captured and recaptured tend to blur together). The satisfying climax reveals the surprising identity of the overseer; meanwhile, there's plenty of intellectual meat in Rabb's description of the origins of the manuscript and the implications of the plan. Using an innovative conceit that combines imaginative brainwork and stirring action scenes, Rabb has given us a thriller worth remembering. Major ad/promo; foreign rights sold in Italy, Germany and Holland; Random House audio.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Rabb, who has a master's degree in political theory from Columbia, has fashioned a slick and readable thriller from unusual material. At the center is a political treatise rumored to outline a plan for world domination. Written by a 16th-century monk named Eisenreich, this manuscript was so explosive that the Pope supposedly had Eisenreich killed in order to suppress it. But the work, On Supremacy, somehow survived, and it has fallen into the hands of a ruthless group who plan to use it to subject the world to their control. Standing in their way are Sarah Trent, an agent for a mysterious government agency called The Committee of Supervision, and Xander Jaspers, a young and somewhat unorthodox political theorist at Columbia. The cabal and their leader, known as the Overseer, set their plan in motion with acts of terrorism in Washington, DC, and Sarah and Xander are on the chase, seeking the manuscript in order to subvert the deadly game. Fans of global conspiracies will enjoy this fast-paced thriller. Rabb has created a scenario that is frighteningly plausible in many ways, and Trent and Jaspers, in their efforts to save the world, are both heroic and human. For most fiction collections.
-ADean James, Murder by the Book, Houston, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
-ADean James, Murder by the Book, Houston, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Kept my interest,
By ra2sky "ra2sky" (the left coast) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Overseer (Hardcover)
While I do agree with the previous reviewer who did not find the characters particularly compelling, I did find enough interest in the plot alone to zip through the book. I got the feeling that Rabb himself was more interested in the plot than the characters. That said, the plot is fascinating and believable. There are a few plot twists that completely surprised me, so overall it was an enjoyable book to read. The writing and editing were unobtrusive. However, the characters are pretty flat and not memorable...hence only three stars.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing,
By
This review is from: Overseer (Mass Market Paperback)
This is not just a novel to enjoy but also something to think about. A very powerful group of people, with the objective of build a new society create chaos in all levels of the society throughout economic, political, social and cultural crisis. As I said before, this is a novel to think about because this "master plan" that Mr. Rabb gave us in his "Eisenreich Manuscript" have being applied in many of the Third World Countries in some way destroying national economies, shaking societies and classes, creating political and religious turmoils and tensions, etc. Watch out, it most be true.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not so far fetched,
By Robert Bailey (Pineville, LA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Overseer (Mass Market Paperback)
I was intrigued and engulfed in this book. It is an amazing comparison, in my opinion, to current events. Great read! I can't wait to pick up his other two books.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
