The Eight by Katherine Neville

Posted on 23. Jul, 2009 by Chris Matney in Book Publishing, Book Reviews, Front Page Posts

I wanted to spend my next two reviews discussing a pair of books that I really enjoy and that are often linked together by readers – and unjustifiably so. The first is Katherine Neville’s wonderfully complex thriller The Eight published in 1988. The second is Umberto Eco’s outstanding medieval mystery The Name of the Rose (1983). Now, the reason that these are linked together in so many reviews might have to do with marketing efforts to make a connection. However, the books are very different in style and content – although I recommend both highly.

The Eight is particularly appropriate for our discussion as it is Ms. Neville’s debut novel and is clearly a direct hit for geek fiction. The book follows two parallel story lines: one set in the late eighteenth century and the other in 1972. Both tell of the search for the mysterious Montglance Service – a chess set given to Charlemagne – encoded with symbols and mysterious powers all wrapped up in a secret code. The story is well told. The plot unfolds beautifully, and I applaud the author for not giving away too much of the “secret”. It’s okay to leave us hanging until the last chapter – or even to, gasp, to leave a few morsels unresolved.

The main modern character, Catherine Velis is likeable. Of course, being a computer consultant with a love of mathematics and chess hits pretty close to home for me. In her plot line, Catherine is assigned an unusual case involving a trip to the Middle East to work with some OPEC clients. Compounding this is a mysterious offer by an antique dealer to make a run to Algeria to pick up some pieces of an ancient chess set. Of course, the plot takes off from there – giving both Catherine and the reader a wild, sometimes intricate, ride.

The historical plot line is secondary, at least in my mind, but it provides a slowly revealed back story which gracefully blends into the modern line. It follows Mireille de Remy, a young novice at Montglane Abbey, also thrown into unfamiliar territory and tasked with scattering the pieces across Europe and Russia. Set against the French Revolution, Mireille must also use cunning and wit to survive in hostile, frightening surroundings. I must admit that one of the downsides to the novel was the introduction of all sorts of historical figures (Napoleon, Catherine the Great, etc.). This always pulls me out of a good story – and this is true here as well.

That said, the story-line is wonderfully complex – like a well-constructed logic puzzle – and the action keeps the tension building. I found myself flipping pages to read just one more chapter, one more chapter… The Eight is a good read and an excellent debut novel, one which I highly recommend for your summer reading list. It is, however, not The Name of the Rose, which I will review in a forthcoming post.