This is a compelling international thriller. Just when you think it is safe to stop, the characters are spun in a new direction that leaves the reader breathless.Government agent Sarah Trent is sent on a fact finding mission. Little does she know that it is a conspiracy to draw her back into the world of espionage. Her research leads her to Columbia University professor Xander Jaspers. Jaspers becomes Sarah´s instructor in understanding an even larger conspiracy.That conspiracy is centered on The Overseer. The Overseer is two things. It is the central character of a manuscript written by sixteenth-century monk named Eisenreich. It is also the leader of a contemporary cabal that intends the overthrow of the United States government. The blueprint for conquest, from the manuscript, is frighteningly plausible.The credibility of this plot is what gives the story line its impact. As events unfold-bombings, murders, etc., the world sees them as isolated incidents. The reader knows them to be part of a larger scheme. It calls to mind the horrors that occur in the United States all too frequently. Rabb efficiently plays upon our own conspiracy fears. Even more effectively he has his characters utilize those fears to their own advantage.Amidst the acts of terrorism and attempts on their own lives Sarah Trent and Xander Jaspers must find The Overseer. They hunt for a way to derail the scheduled events. Sarah and Xander are likable characters who truly need each other if they are to survive. Each brings talents and knowledge necessary to their task.Jonathan Rabb has developed interesting characters. Not one of them is a cardboard cut out. The heroes and villains alike are absorbing individuals. The conclusion to the story is satisfying while leaving the reader wanting Sarah and Xander to return. The historical aspects are as well constructed as the contemporary portions. The only grating aspect is the insistence that the manuscript would have been sent to a sixteenth century pope in Italian when a Latin copy was available. The Overseer is a clever and original work that demands readers use their minds as well as engaging their emotions.
I never had any interest in reading the Da Vinci Code, and if I'd heard about this, I might not have been interested in it, either. But somehow I picked up a damaged copy of it, and got terribly interested but it was in such bad shape that there was no way to go on reading. I found that I had to request it from the library, and as soon as it arrived I started over at the beginning. I've read it in chunks since then.If I'd read this book when it was first released, back in 1998, I'm sure it would have been much more chilling. It was quite effective, even in 2011. I can easily remember the public figures who are echoed in Rabb's books - there are certainly similar ones in the news every day right now (some of them the same ones!)I did, however, enjoy The Overseer for what it was. I didn't find myself chafing at the flaws other reviewers here have mentioned. Yes, government agents in such thrillers have to be nearly superhuman, and the protagonist, in order to survive, has to learn new rules very quickly. But the reader also has to suspend her disbelief, or she has no business reading such things. If the hero is an idiot, I'll accept that he's a slow learner and likely to die - but then he wouldn't be the hero, would he?All in all, a decent read if you enjoy thrillers.
Do You like book The Overseer (1998)?
This novel started out well - I was quickly drawn into the story and the two main characters were plausible and interesting and the writing was crisp and tight. However, as it went on, it just went on and on. Sarah became more of a fantasy James Bond character, Xander seemed to become too quickly adept at thriller work and everyone seemed to know more and more than the reader. In the end, it was a stuggle to finish and the climax, when it came owed way too much to James Bond movies, with large multi=billion dollar underground lairs and villians with privae armies too easily defeated.
—Bill
