The Overseer - Hardcover

Rabb, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609602535 ISBN 13: 9780609602539

Publisher: Crown, 1998

Synopsis

The deadliest document ever written must be found.
And time is running out.

It has long been rumored in academic circles that a sixteenth-century monk named Eisenreich took Machiavelli several steps further, writing a masterplan for world domination so dangerous the Pope had him killed to suppress it. But Eisenreich's text, On Supremacy, survived. Some scholars even believed the Third Reich had a copy. But when the bullet-riddled body of a young girl is found in Montana and "Eisenreich" is her dying word, it becomes terrifyingly clear that not only is the document real--someone is planning to use this explosive piece of history in the late twentieth century.
        
This deadly document is at the heart of The Overseer, a chillingly authentic, compulsively readable thriller of global intrigue and political conspiracy that follows a desperate search for a fabled manuscript, one with frightening modern-day implications. Beautiful, troubled government agent Sarah Trent is given just enough information by her covert office to begin digging into the murder of the young girl. Her search takes her to Columbia University and a brilliant young political theorist named Xander Jaspers, who agrees to help her. But neither Xander nor Sarah fully understand the dangerous situation into which they've been thrown. For On Supremacy has fallen into the hands of a cabal intent on using it as a blueprint for ripping apart society as we know it and creating a new world order out of the ashes of the old.
        
The cabal, led by a coldly intelligent mastermind called the Overseer, begins its campaign of terror. As the acts of terrorism--assassinations, bombings, the collapse of the grain market--go off like clockwork, Sarah and Xander realize the only way to prevent total chaos is to find another copy of the manuscript and uncover the identity of the Overseer--and so the race is on.
        
This intelligent, full-throttle thriller is the extraordinary literary debut of a young political theorist, author Jonathan Rabb, who asks: What if such a sophisticated and dangerous sixteenth-century document resurfaced at the turn of the millennium? Would it be the most thrilling discovery of the twentieth century...or the most terrifying? Read On Supremacy at the end of this provocative novel and judge for yourself.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan Rabb has a B.A. from Yale and an M.Phil from Columbia University in political theory and taught at Columbia College for three years, specializing in early modern political thought. He had the idea for The Overseer while on a Fulbright fellowship in Germany. Rabb lives in New York City.

From the Back Cover

"The Overseer is an exceptional debut thriller, refreshingly original, with a feel-your-pulse plot that warp speeds its way through the centuries. Jonathan Rabb writes with studied knowledge of his material. The characters are well-defined, the dialogue crisp, and the history a shake-and-stir mix of fact and fiction...a smooth blend of Ian Fleming and Umberto Eco."
--Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers and Apaches

"The Overseer is a stunning accomplishment, a novel that works both as a smartly plotted, provocative novel of ideas and a taut, complex, thoroughly entertaining thriller reminiscent of early Robert Ludlum. Well-written, intelligent, with a unique concept...a richly satisfying literary debut."
--Larry Bond, author of The Enemy Within and Red Phoenix

"The Overseer is an intelligent, action-packed thriller, a highly original novel that pulls you in from the first intriguing pages and refuses to let up. A riveting piece of suspense fiction that feels chillingly real."
--Kyle Mills, author of Rising Phoenix

From the Inside Flap

t document ever written must be found.
And time is running out.

It has long been rumored in academic circles that a sixteenth-century monk named Eisenreich took Machiavelli several steps further, writing a masterplan for world domination so dangerous the Pope had him killed to suppress it. But Eisenreich's text, On Supremacy, survived. Some scholars even believed the Third Reich had a copy. But when the bullet-riddled body of a young girl is found in Montana and "Eisenreich" is her dying word, it becomes terrifyingly clear that not only is the document real--someone is planning to use this explosive piece of history in the late twentieth century.

This deadly document is at the heart of The Overseer, a chillingly authentic, compulsively readable thriller of global intrigue and political conspiracy that follows a desperate search for a fabled manuscript, one with frightening modern-day implications. Be

Reviews

A (fictitious) master plan for 16th-century megalomaniacs sets the game afoot in this reasonably interesting, though overlong, thriller by first-time author Rabb. The how-to-do-it book is called On Supremacy, and it has legs, long ones. It turns out that what pushed hot buttons in 1531 is still catnip to would-be world-dominators today. Back then, bits and pieces of the book were shown to Pope Clement VII by an ambitious Swiss monk named Eisenreich, whose brainchild it was and who was hoping for patronage and employment. Clement was impressed. In fact, unnerved. For the sake of maintaining the status quo, he ordered the treatise burned, but since Eisenreich had by then hidden it well, the Pope decided to burn him instead. Now, as the millennium is about to end, On Supremacy seems to have surfaced, and a sinister cabal finds it an ideal blueprint for effecting chaos, knowing that chaos will lead to disorientation, which will lead to terror, which will result finally in despair, ever the fertile breeding ground for New Orders of every description. Thus, the stage is set for a basic global thriller. Among the familiar ingredients: (1) highly placed moles, (2) clandestine, licensed-to-kill agents, (3) brilliant but batty archvillains, (4) brilliant but nerdy computer whizzes, and the obligatory (6) hyper- realism (``Washington, February 26, 12:45'', etc.). Give Rabb credit for one departure, though, as he rings some lively changes on the customary hero-heroine relationship, allowing agent Sarah Trent and Professor Xander Jaspers to embody a refreshing role-reversal. Sarah's the one licensed to kill, while Xander looks to her for protection. Not that he's wimpish. It's just that the anarchic, kill-or-be-killed world he all of a sudden finds himself in is completely alien to him. But not to her. She, as she phlegmatically informs him, is good at chaos. In a book, say, 75 pages thinner, Rabb's intriguing odd couple might have been enough to carry the day. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

...a far-fetched tale ... but so intelligent and skillful is the telling that one gladly suspends disbelief ... This is a highly sophisticated and diverting thriller, a superior entertainment.

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.

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.

In the sixteenth century, a monk named Eusebius Eisenreich, attempting to secure a position at the Vatican, wrote a treatise titled "On Supremacy." The Pope felt the paper, which outlined a plan for world domination, was so dangerous that he had Eisenreich killed and all copies of the manuscript destroyed. Copies that escaped the pope's destruction are today being used by evil forces as a blueprint for their own plans of world domination. A complete shutdown of air traffic on the East Coast and an explosion in Washington's National Gallery are but the first stages in the nefarious scheme. Sarah Trent, a government agent, and Xander Jaspers, a brilliant young political theorist, join forces to stop the onslaught of terrorism and capture the leader of the movement, known only as the Overseer. Following a circuitous trail that begins in Italy and then wanders the globe, the intrepid duo eventually discover the source of the terrorist movement and, in a bloody confrontation, effectively save the world. For now. This is an exciting, well-written debut novel, but accepting the conceit that a manuscript could contain the secrets of world domination is as difficult as believing those get-rich-quick schemes so prevalent on late-night infomercials. But what the heck: in for a penny, in for a pound. Read and enjoy. Wes Lukowsky

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Overseer
by Jonathan Rabb




In the summer of 1531, Medici soldiers, working for Pope Clement VII, tortured to death an obscure Swiss monk, Eusebius Eisenreich. What Eisenreich would not reveal was the location of a simple manuscript.


The Pope never found it.


Saddled with overnight bag, purse, and briefcase, Sarah Trent looked the typical attorney making her weekly trek to New York. The heavy winter coat bounced playfully just above her knees, revealing a pair of rather exquisite legs. At five foot seven, trim and athletic, Sarah was used to the turned heads, the long stares. She smiled back, her keep chestnut eyes flashing in response, as she moved along the platform to a nonsmoking car, the Metroliner surprisingly empty for noon on a Thursday.
        
She had opted for the train rather than the shuttle for the simple reason that she needed more time with the files--two days hadn't been enough to digest all the material that had landed on her desk. A research update. just some background information for the new system, the note had read. We've got the space, we need to fill it. Typical bureaucratic reasoning.
        
Now, finding a pair of seats midway through the car, Sarah swung the two cases onto the window seat, then dropped herself into the one on the aisle. She turned to the briefcase as she unbuttoned her coat.
        
She had spent the last two days on the phone, trying to piece together the strands of information in the files. Very little had come up. And whenever she tried to dig a bit deeper, awkward pauses followed by curt responses had make it clear that she was not meant to look further. Brush-offs, notwithstanding, a few names had popped up to catch her attention--organizations that seemed to fit into a category with various right-wing fringe groups but which remained just this side of respectability.
        
In all the digging, one name had continued to crop up. One Alexander Jaspers, a prolific academic who had spent the last few years churning out article after article on the new decency in conservatism. His phrase. Sarah had leafed through a number of his pieces and, realizing she had found her font of information, had made an appointment to see him.
        
As the train emerged from the station, Sarah opened the one file that had intrigued her most during her first perusal. Tieg, The infamous host of Tieg Tonight--one of the country's more popular evening television entertainments. Jaspers would be well up on Tiegs history, having mentioned him in at least two of the articles. Never comfortable with academic types--always a bit intimidated--Sarah was determined to hold her own with Doctor Jaspers. She settled into her seat and let her shoes drop to the floor, ready now to peruse the file more
        
The first pages were standard form: born 33 to Hungarian émigrés, public schools, regional wrestling champion, scholarship to St. Johns. Nothing unusual until 51, when, in a period of less than six weeks, Tiegs father died, he dropped out of school, and he set sail for Europe. No explanation.
        
Sarah took a moment to jot down a few notes and then turned to the last few pages. The story beyond 69 was common knowledge. Buying up a number radio stations--the source of the initial capital unclear--Tieg had parlayed them into a series of local television outfits, and by 73 had the largest media package in the Southwest. Then the shift to telecommunications in 75, when he started to drum up business in Washington. His current linkups included Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America.
        
And then, just as quickly as he had gotten into technology, he moved on, turning his attentions to Tieg Tonight, the homespun talk show that blossomed from a four share in 93 to a twenty-two share by 97, a legendary rise by any standards. The ratings established Tieg as the premier pontificating politico of the airwaves.
        
Sarah placed the file on her lap and closed her eyes. She had read the last few pages without the attention she knew they deserved, preoccupied by the three-year hiatus Tieg had enjoyed in Europe. The question remained: Who--or what--was allowing him to escape the keep eye of the worlds most thorough intelligence agency forty years later? How had those three years remained hidden?
                                        

They sat. I'd recommend a nice cup of tea and a piece of the raspberry chocolate cake, but not everybody's a chocolate nut.
        No, that sounds nice. Everything was nice, Sarah thought--the idea of tea, the funny little cafe that wanted so desperately to evoke images of Paris or Berlin--and the company. There was something very relaxing about young Dr. Jaspers. Something that seemed so...unacademic.
        So, Clara mentioned the State Department and my articles. I can only guess were here to talk about The New Right and the rise of conservatism. The self-mocking tone in his voice prompted another smile from Sarah. The title of a very dull article I wrote.
        Not so dull.
        Jaspers eyes widened. You've actually read it?
        My job, Professor Jaspers--
        Xander, he interrupted. Everyone calls me Xander.
        Again, she smiled. One of the many I read...Xander. All very informative. And all quite different from the other articles on the subject. Your approach is...how shall I put this--
        Unique? Probably the source. He pulled a thin well-worn book from his jacket pocket, several rubber bands holding it together. He placed it on the table. The cover read The Prince. Never leave home without it.
        Machiavelli? she asked.
        Dont be so surprised. They were pretty bright in the sixteenth century. He was probably the brightest.
        And now he's a man for all centuries, she said, watching as Jaspers stretched the rubber bands around the flaking pages.
        The nice thing about theory, Ms. Trent, is that it can apply to any number of situations. He put the book in his pocket. Its the way you apply it that makes the difference.
        And your friend Machiavelli just happens to fit in with the New Right?
        And the junk-bond market, and several LBOs, even a separatist group in Idaho--I'm not the only one whose seen a connection. I just keep it theoretical. Its everyone else who tries to put it into practice.
        Theories are...susceptible to broad interpretation. That's what makes them so seductive. Sometimes, they're hard to dismiss. But at a certain point, you have to recognize their limitations.
        Ill try to keep that in mind, Sarah said. So, she continued, its all really just a matter of context.
        Exactly, he replied. Machiavelli wrote the Prince as a...how-to manual on wielding political power. What he really wanted was job from the Medici--Florences ruling family. Machiavelli was a genius, but he was a sixteenth-century genius, and we have twentieth century questions.
        So you think he takes us only so far.
        Don't get me wrong, answered Jaspers. I love the old guy, but he's a springboard, that's all. A modern equivalent is what the New Right has been doing over the last few years. Except instead of going directly to the people, they pander to any number of interest groups in order to maintain control. Theoretically, its Machiavelli: practically, its--
        The new decency in conservatism. The Centrist Coalition.
        Bingo.
                                        

WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 26, 3:51 P.M. The class moved through the museum, a Veronese the highlight, each child busy with notebook and pen, jotting down the relevant information. On cue, one of the girls quietly sank to her knees, hidden by the other children as she removed the grating of the vent directly below the painting. She placed her pack inside the opening slipped through. A boy followed, the grate immediately replaced.
        They had no need of lights or maps; they had run the mock-up perhaps a hundred times in the last week. At the fourth duct, they turned. The girl checked her watch. Eight minutes. Plant it, set the linkup, and return. They had done it once in seven.
        Half a minute later, they fashioned the pieces from their backpacks into two large plastic bricks and a small black box, a copper coil connecting it to the wires along the wall.
   ...

Edition details

• Publisher: Crown
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0609602535
• ISBN 13: 9780609602539
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 358