The Eight is about a powerful chess service of questionable origin. Through the years, it was passed on as a gift to Charlemagne who felt a strong sense of evil when he played it. He decided this service was too powerful to be kept around and had it buried at a monastery in Montglane. From then on it was known as the Montglane Service.

During the beginning sparks of the French Revolution, all the monasteries were being turned upside down and the abess in charge of protecting the Service needed to uproot it and get it out of there, lest it fall into the wrong hands. She dispersed the pieces among eight nuns, sending them off in all different directions, sworn to protect the pieces with their lives. Two of these nuns are Mireille, a strong woman and Valentine, her more free-spirited cousin. They live together in Paris, living the high life, until the Frech Revolution really gets swinging and threatens the lives of all too many Parisians. People are being murdered on the street and Valentine’s life is taken because of the information she knows about the Service. Mireille knows she has to get herself and the pieces out of there.

After Valentine’s death, Mireille vows to discover the secret killing her cousin. She set off to distant lands and encountered historical figures along her way, including Napoleon – all of which are also somehow connected with the Service. She quickly finds she’s not just trying to unveil a secret, she’s a player in an ongoing real life chess game!

Meanwhile, in 1972, Catherine Velis is a computer expert who has an upcoming business trip to Algiers. First she receives a cryptic message from a fortune teller who seems to know her birthdate. Shortly afterwards, her friend Lily, an expert at chess, drags her along to a chess match between two world known masters. At the match, one of these men is killed. As they try to leave the match, they are shot at and discover Lily’s chauffuer has gone missing! Catherine soon finds herself sucked into the same real life game of chess that Mireille started playing two hundred years ago. She traces along the same path as Mireille trying to put all the clues together and discover the importance of the Service.

If you liked The DaVinci Code or admire historical fiction, I highly recommend this book! It does seem a little far fetched as it ties many of life’s mysteries together, dating all the way back to Adam and Eve. The ride is fun though and it’s always great to think, “What if it were true?”

This is a classic example of a good book with a HORRIBLE ending. Possibly the worst ending ever for any book. I was excited to be reading it – the plot was rather ingenious at times – and then it STOPPED DEAD. Don’t waste your time!

I picked it up because I’d recently read and enjoyed Angels & Demons. It’s a lot like that book, but more drawn out. Irritatingly so. I’m a little bored with the “mystery”, but I’ll finish it.

Finished. Highly irritated by the ending.

I really enjoyed reading this thriller, and thrillers aren’t my favorite at all! Fun.