A riviting book about the lust for power and world domination.

Monday:
What are we having for dinner Dear?
Oh, sorry, I haven´t had time to make dinner. I´ve been reading this new book.Wednesday: Paula, I don´t have any clean socks.
Huh? I haven´t had time to do the laundry. I´m finishing this new book.
You´ve been reading that book non-stop for three days.

Jonathan Rabb´s book The Overseer should come with a warning label.

Caution: Reader may become hooked and unable to set this book down.

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.