Having had the privilege of reading 'Pascalene' in manuscript, I am confident that in finished form it will find a great many enthusiastic readers. It is an extraordinarily ambitious novel, many-layered and crammed with allusions across cultures and disciplines. It will appeal to armchair travelers and the more adventurous alike, who will enjoy following the author's artfully-laid trails across historic and illustrious locations.

The author, something of a Renaissance man himself, pays full tribute to his inspiration, Blaise Pascal. There are complex mathematical themes and good old-fashioned puzzles liberally sprinkled across a tale of romance, high adventure and exquisitely-planned revenge - and chess!

'Pascalene' is very much a first novel, full - even over-full - of the writer's experience and passions. Sometimes self-indulgent? Perhaps. Does the pace of the action occasionally fall off a little while a philosophical rabbit is pursued? Possibly. Nevertheless, taken as a whole, 'Pascalene' will delight and enthrall and one looks forward to John S. Frisby's next book.

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Thrilling. Tense. Tantalising. It's a cat-and-mouse chess game, where the stakes are life and death. Misogyny is the target, but no one is safe. Justice or retribution - what's the difference? The resultant effect? Carnage and bloodshed.

Full of mathematical and philosophical intrigue, seamlessly woven into the narrative, John S Frisby has created an allure that melds both the logical with the passionate. Although the dialogue is initially faulty and wobbles at the beginning, it soon gains its footing. This results in genuine characters with rich histories that captivate and entice a deep curiosity to discover their fates.

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Pascalene is a story of l'amour and l'amitie. It is about existence and essence, man and woman, and joy through struggle.

John Frisby seems to embody Beauvoirian ideals. His gripping, bomb-ridden, love-triangle mathematical thriller takes us back to the essence of being.

I like that each chapter has a different atmosphere, each one suited to the underlying themes expressed through engaging dialogue. There are different textures without changing style, which is perhaps the most admirable thing about this book.

For example, the distinctive French amitie permeates through Chapters 2-3. This atmosphere is generated without relying on a discursive narrative or obvious metaphysics. Instead, it seems to have, as it were, flowed naturally from the writer's mental stock, his life experience making the characters attractive and their interaction authentic.

The juxtaposition between determinism and existentialism is made clearer by Pascalene taking up the role of destiny itself, while Georgie, Jack, and Christophe embody the existentialist ideals through their actions. This point is made clear in that the latter is the only force capable of bringing about real change.

With elements of mathematics reinforcing this juxtaposition, this important philosophical idea is expressed without being platitudinous. Because the book is not designed to preach but rather to distil a distinct atmosphere that carries its own significance, it has the power to withstand scrutiny with its sincere and worldly nature.

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When two brilliant young minds collide within the hallowed halls of École Normale Supérieure, Paris they follow in the wake of their intellectual heroes from a century earlier - Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus. They are drawn towards one another to discover the inner beauty of the ‘City of Light’ by way of an enigmatic game of chess. This leads Sophie, the Franco-Algerian protagonist, to discover the true depth of misogyny in her existence and fuels her determination to change the world order.

She unleashes a wave of intrigue and destruction, challenging the very foundations on which all our lives are built.

John S Frisby has woven a thriller of great relevance for the world in which we live today.

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