“The Rule of Four” was written by Princeton alumnus Ian Caldwell and Harvard alumnus Dustin Thomason. Similarly, the two main characters of “The Rule of Four”, Paul Harris and Tom Corelli, are Princeton students completing their last undergraduate year.

Although the authors graduated in 1998, their book takes place the weekend of Good Friday, 1999. The story only spans several days but there is enough suspense and must-read action to fill more than three hundred pages. “The Rule of Four” is a story of brilliant accomplishment; it’s both an ancient mystery and a love story. There is a reason this book was a number one national bestseller.

It’s difficult to give a basic rundown of “The Rule of Four” because of the level in which Paul and Tom get wrapped up in a 500 year old mystery. They dive head-first into a book whose true meaning and purpose is too elusive for even the most erudite of scholars. The book is the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. As Paul and Tom begin finding coded messages they find that they can’t trust anyone and a murder on campus creates yet another mystery. The reader, however, is not omniscient and knows only as much as Paul and Tom themselves.