The Traveler: Summary and book reviews of The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks, plus links to an excerpt from The Traveler and a biography of John Twelve Hawks.
The Traveler The First Novel of the Fourth Realm Trilogy
by John Twelve Hawks
Hardcover: Jun 2005,
464 pages.
Paperback: Jul 2006,
464 pages.
One woman stands between those determined to control history and those who will
risk their lives for freedom.
Maya is hiding in plain sight in London. The twenty-six-year-old has abandoned
the dangerous obligations pressed upon her by her father, and chosen instead to
live a normal life. But Maya comes from a long line of people who call
themselves Harlequins—a fierce group of warriors willing to sacrifice their
lives to protect a select few known as Travelers.
Gabriel and Michael Corrigan are brothers living in Los Angeles. Since
childhood, the young men have been shaped by stories that their late father was
a Traveler, one of a small band of prophets who have vastly influenced the
course of history. Travelers are able to attain pure enlightenment, and have for
centuries ushered change into the world. Gabriel and Michael, who may have
inherited their father's gifts, have always protected themselves by living “off
the Grid”—that is, invisible to the real-life surveillance networks that monitor
people in our modern society.
Summoned by her ailing father, Maya is told of the existence of the brothers.
The Corrigans are in severe danger, stalked by powerful men known as the Tabula—ruthless
mercenaries who have hunted Travelers for generations. This group is determined
to inflict order on the world by controlling it, and they view Travelers as an
intolerable threat. As Maya races to California to protect the brothers, she is
reluctantly pulled back into the cold and solitary Harlequin existence. A
colossal battle looms—one that will reveal not only the identities of Gabriel
and Michael Corrigan but also a secret history of our time.
Moving from the back alleys of Prague to the heart of Los Angeles, from the high
deserts of Arizona to a guarded research facility in New York, The Traveler
explores a parallel world that exists alongside our own. John Twelve Hawks'
stunningly suspenseful debut is an international publishing sensation that marks
the arrival of a major new talent.
Razor
In his breathtaking debut novel (think The Matrix meets 1984), Twelve Hawks offers a thrilling, wholly original take on the suspicion we all feel, at least a little, that our lives are being manipulated by powers we cannot even imagine. After this book, already being turned into a feature film, it's hard to imagine Twelve Hawks will ever be anonymous again.
Newsday
Picture The Matrix crossed with William Gibson and you'll have a sense of the The Traveler...The writing is compelling, and my main complaint is that the book feels unfinished--because the story will continue in two more volumes. I can't wait to read them.
Kirkus Reviews
As if Carlos Castaneda and Robert Ludlum had collaborated for a surefire bestseller.
Booklist
Starred Review. The pace is fast, the characters intriguing and memorable, the evil dark and palpable, and the genre-bending between fantasy and thriller seamless.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Powerful, mainstream fiction built on a foundation of cutting-edge technology laced with fantasy and the chilling specter of an all-too-possible social and political reality.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Mr. dave average This book has great potential, but stumbles and falls short.
Rated of 5
by Yeremenko Cliches cliches and more cliches This is an awful book. The characters are all sad stereotypes and it is so predictable. Some of the plot holes are massive. One of the great untouchable Harlequins who stayed off the grid his entire life has his security cam in the open and... Read More
Rated of 5
by Gregory Skip It I read the first couple chapters of this book and I had to put it down. I couldn't understand how a book like this is published. It didn't hook me or have any stickiness. I read it a while ago but all I remember is thinking "this book and the... Read More
Rated of 5
by Dreamer Makes you think Although this book may not use the best prose in the world, what is presented makes you think, as opposed to how it is presented. The concept of the Grid is worringly realistic, and not necessarily 'fiction.' It is rare that I find a book I cannot... Read More
Rated of 5
by Jim Interesting "Traveler" is a mind bending book. Great effort has been placed within the discription of a "Traveler" to convince me that these travelers are important to the world order, it could be quite believeable that these people exsist in todays society. I... Read More
Rated of 5
by Peter's Fourth Life Too Close I'm not surprised John12Hawks lives off the Grid. I'm suprised he's still alive.
Too near or possibly spot on the truth.
Govs will probably try and protect their myths as the CC are alleged to do in DaVinci Code.
You feel you are reading about... Read More
Who is John
Twelve Hawks? According to his
editor at Doubleday, Jason
Kaufman (who also edited The
Da Vinci Code), nobody knows
- not even Kaufman. Twelve Hawks
claims to live 'off the grid' -
meaning that he lives in such a
way that the government can't
track him - no credit cards, no
driver's license and nothing
that would allow the government
to invade his privacy.
Kaufman says 'we talk quite
frequently [by phone], and I
believe he always speaks with a
satellite phone ... and a
satellite phone is virtually
untraceable.' His agent, Joe
Regal, adds that Twelve Hawks
uses a synthesizer to disguise
his voice, so it's not even
clear if he is a he or a her.
'He's' believed to be in his 40s
or 50s, lives in New York, Los...
Crowley draws us into a cosmic tug-of-war between familiarity and strangeness. Dæmonomania is a journey into the very mystery of existence: what is, what went before, and what could break through at any moment in our lives.
The chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution continues in this provocative tale where "survival of the fittest" takes on astonishing and controversial new dimensions.
These are 2 of the 7 readalike suggestions for The Traveler. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The most mature work yet from an incomparable storyteller, TransAtlantic is a profound meditation on identity and history in a wide world that grows somehow smaller and more wondrous with...
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
read more
From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
read more
Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
read more
Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate(Jun 12 2013) Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position...
Full Story
of 5
by Mr. dave
of 5
by Yeremenko
of 5
by Dreamer
of 5
by Peter's Fourth Life
Write your own review!
