Rating: 
Summary: Smart and Rocket-paced
Review: Jonathan Rabb doesn't let you get off the ride for a second. Although there are times (especially at the begining) when you're not exactly sure who's doing what to whom, Rabb does settle into a fast and furious telling of this compelling story. I suppose it is a little far-fetched to think that a manuscript could have this much power in the world today, but then I really like books that stretch the envelope and take you places you've never been (or thought you would ever go). Rabb didn't give me time to question his premise, and he also is so knowledgeable about the period the manuscript comes from, I believed everything he said.Plus, this is a really good yarn. I can't wait for his next one.
Rating: 
Summary: Why I stopped reading Ludlum as Rabb is a poorer imitator!
Review: Jonathan Rabb writes a poor man's version of Ludlum and we are all the poorer for it. If only Rabb's pseudo-scholarly meanderings, political interjections and highly-derivative writing had also been penuriously edited out of the book. Instead, Rabb's boring interludes are laced throughout 429 pages of predictable plotting and cliched characterizations. (Robert Ludlum has already exhaustively mined this cookie-cutter genre to much better effect). The "star chamber" conspiracy story-line is old and has been done better before. The character developments are similarly derivative. We've seen it all before. Indeed, this is an ideal book for a speed-reading course, as one could read the introductory sentences and concluding sentences of each paragraph and not miss a thing in between. Finally, still exercising his penchant for even more infliction of quasi-intellectual musings, Rabb concludes with a tedious, convoluted appendix ("On Supremacy")served up for those readers still around at the end of his fanciful conspiracy tale. This appendix alone would bore the tick off a dog. An excerpted book review on the paperback's cover page says "...put it in your beach bag". However, I would merely add that having dones so, one should not read "The Overseer" but take it to the beach and leave it for the tide to take out.
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood Novel By The Numbers
Review: Jonathan Rabb writes THE OVERSEER like an application to HOLLYWOOD'S BIG BOOK OF CLICHES. Don't let the publisher's marketing department fool you when they claim it's a novel, it's not: it's a movie on paper instead of the screen. Everybody should know that thriller novels don't make Great Literature, but they shouldn't aim to please the mid-nineties IQ either. The book's premise promises an expectation of an "intellectual" thriller, a Machiavellian intrigue a cut above childish and jejune plots heaped out by Hollywood. Don't be fooled. The DUMB AND DUMBER mindset rein supreme here. The characters are so wooden you could make Dutch clogs out of them. His writing is stiff enough to come out of an academic journal with the big words removed for the simpletons. His action scenes are so muddled and confusing, you have read it three times before you realize that somebody died or someone escaped from the bad guys. The vast, right-wing conspiracy that drives! ! the action is so implausible only Hillary Clinton could believe it: about as realistic as THEY SAVED HILTER'S BRAIN. Come on Mr. Rabb, if you're going to criticize the right-wing, do it without making them look like cartoon villains. Of course, the entertainment industry currently has a hate-affaire with the right-wing right now, just like they had one with the Nazis, the Russians, the Drug Dealers et al beforehand, and Mr. Rabb is just following the cliches by the numbers in his portrayal of the Overseer's plot to rule America. By the way, the identity of the Overseer is supposed to remain a secret until the end, but the any reader with a quarter of a brain can guess it a third of the way through this laughable attempt at a book. However, if you like thriller novels on par with the Hollywood action movie baby formula, you can safely disregard this review. Otherwise, feel sorry for the tress, ink, and glue that died to make this book possible. Buy and reread Machiavelli! ! instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Exciting story, but could be shorter
Review: Jonathan Rabb's first book reflects his life as a scholar inthat one of the principal characters is a scholar studying a fourhundred year document, On Supremacy by one Eisenreich. This document takes Machiavelli much further along. Eisenreich writes about a plan for the Catholic Church to take over the world. Now in the late twentieth century a cabal in America is trying to follow Eisenreich's plan with a schedule of their own. Rabb writes from a liberal point of view. His cabal are quite conservative, albeit without much moral foundation. His cabal quite cynically use conservative slogans to try to convinve the masses that society is in chaos. A subtle point is made when Jonas Tieg does one of his television programs from a charter school. Education for these people means producing disciples who will follow orders. The plot is full of twists and surprises; sometimes one gets tired of these surprises and simply wants the story to find a conclusion. That is probably the one major weakness of this first novel. But it was a fascinating read for this reader, who had to finish it in a couple of days. When a section would end and yet one would want to continue with the next. Rabb is a good writer.
Rating:
Summary: Best summer read in years!
Review: Loved this book. I was drawn in right from the start (the opening is one of the best I've ever read in a thriller). The characters are lively, the plot cruises along, and the historical stuff is eye-opening. I also like how Rabb doesn't make this into one more of those "the conservatives are the bad guys" kind of book, even though the conspirators are all hardliners. In one of the best scenes, he makes it pretty clear what differentiates conservative politics and ultra-right wing fanaticism. Great job! Keep it up.
Rating:
Summary: a truly compelling story
Review: Mr. Rabb's exceedingly smart novel was truly compelling. I was most impressed by his facility with creating a whirlwind plot while incorporating a clever philosophical treatise, completely accessible to expert and novice alike. I have been somewhat dismayed by some responses to the book in which people seem to write off the "coincidences" of certain events taking place and the fact that the protagonist, Xander Jaspers, happens to have studied or worked in cities around the world that happen to be relevant to the manuscript. Perhaps it was impatience or laziness, but the moderately-careful reader will understand that the men in the story responsible for the chaos have planned out every aspect of their scheme cleverly and ingeniously, incorporateing Jaspers into their scenario long before he even becomes involved! I can say without hesitation that the book is very easy to follow as evidenced by my 13 year old son who energetically finished the story in three! days. For those critics who found it necessary to read passages two or three times in order to follow the story, I would recommend that they tackle something a little easier in the world of literature before jumping to erroneous conclusions. I also wasn't aware that writing a sophisticated political document was "cliched" as some readers have suggested. This book will appeal to any novel-enthusiast who doesn't feel threatened by a writer who obviously knows a lot more about philosophy and engaging story-writing than most of us.
Rating: 
Summary: Same old heroes and villains
Review: Okay, fascinating idea. I find it plausible that an ancient document could hold dangerous secrets. Look at the documents that still go deep in our culture. Yet this is poor in execution. The good guys/gals, even with the twist of a "strong female action hero," are ALWAYS good, sensitive, and only destroy the knee caps and rip out the throats of the bad guys in self defense. That way they can continue to lament the destruction and chaos of the enemy. Fine if you don't think about the contradiction very long. Sarah Trent might be deep with her past, but even this is wiped clean when we learn late in the book that the death she caused, well, she didn't really cause it...I don't know. Plus, there's a strawman argument here against political conservatives. And if you ARE religious, you have no mind. You are a robot in this universe. With lots of potboiler phrasing, and a deep need for sentence level editing, this is not very lively reading (how many times should an independant clause be followed by sometimes two or more modifying gerund, -ing type phrases? Not this often in 400 plus pages). It would be a more interesting read if at the end the "good" professor becomes the OVERSEER. It would at least make for a sequel and break up the simplistic dualism in the characters. That would be a twist.
Rating: 
Summary: Something Lacking
Review: On the surface of it, Rabb's OVERSEER seems to have what it takes to be a very good read. The premise seems interesting, featuring a cabal of well-placed individuals following the theory of a renaissance scholar in a bid to achieve absolute power. That copies of the scholar's document are scarce and the theory little known gives the story a bit of an Indiana Jones feel. Also, the characters have some depth to them. Despite all the promise, though, this book disappointed me. It took me more than a month to slog through it and I just never really got into it. There was never the feeling that I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. And I'm not sure why. Perhaps the problem was that I found the plot rather predictable. Perhaps it was one of the main characters, Sarah Trent. There were issues from her past affecting the events in the story and her response to them, but they were only dribbled out a bit at a time. I never felt that these connections were made entirely clear and, as a result Trent's hesitancy became a little tedious. Whatever the problem, THE OVERSEER was something of a letdown for me. Others here have liked it, but I struggled to get through it. The characters and situations simply never became compelling for me. I can't give it an enthusiastic recommendation. There are more intriguing books to be had out there.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting read
Review: Overall, I liked this book. The thing that really held it together for me was the blending of political theory with spy novel suspence. Yes, there were some forced moments. The love scene was certainly one. One the whole though, the action was good, the plot semi-believable, and the suspense OK. Not as well thought out as a Clancy novel, but refreshing nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Ludlum was never this clever
Review: Read the other reviews. People either loved it or hated it. Had to see for myself. It's true that Rabb does use a bit too much flowery language from time to time, but the story, and the way he makes the philosophy so important to the plot make this a far cry from anything Ludlum ever did. Nice first try. I really couldn't put it down.
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