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The Manuscript
Two million dollars in a black bag. The meaning of life hidden on a deviously encrypted website. And several dozen heavily armed guys with serious existential issues. The hunt is on for THE MANUSCRIPT in this high-speed, action-packed thriller.
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
7 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Michael Stephen Fuchs
57 books493 followersMICHAEL STEPHEN FUCHS is author of the #1 bestselling epic ARISEN series of special-operations military ZA novels, which have repeatedly been Amazon #1 bestsellers in Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction, #1 in Dystopian Science Fiction, #1 in Military Science Fiction, #1 in War Fiction, and #1 in War & Military Action Fiction, as well as Amazon overall Top 100 bestsellers. The series as a whole has sold over 1.5 million copies. The audiobook editions, performed by R.C. Bray, have generated over $5 million in revenue. He is also author of the D-Boys series of high-tech special-operations military adventure novels, which include
D-Boys
,
Counter-Assault
, and Close Quarters Battle (coming in 2026); as well as the existential cyberthrillers
The Manuscript
and
Pandora’s Sisters
, both published worldwide by Macmillan in hardback, paperback and all e-book formats (and in translation). He lives in London and blogs at www.michaelfuchs.org/razorsedge. You can follow him on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, or by e-mail.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 18, 2013
Originally published on my blog here in January 2008.">here in November 2008.
Sir Richard Burton was one of the most interesting Victorians - best known as a linguist and explorer, he translated the Arabian Nights into English and made the pilgrimage to Mecca forbidden to the infidel in disguise as an Arab, and co-led the expedition which discovered the source of the Nile. He is also well known to science fiction fans as the main character of Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series. Here, though, he appears as the author of "The Manuscript", a description of a trip he took into the Andes, discovering a remote tribe who possessed the answers to life's questions. Apparently lost when Burton's widow burnt his papers after his death, rumours suggest that The Manuscript is secretly hidden on an Internet server.
So far, so Da Vinci Code. A similar mixture of absurd and unlikely conspiracy theory and treasure hunt with a spiritual secret to be found. This is mixed in with the Internet thriller, along the lines of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and is written by someone who knows what he's talking about. Fuchs also thankfully writes in a far less clunky style than Dan Brown, who for this reader breaks the suspense every couple of paragraphs with some poorly phrased infelicity.
That is not to say that everything is wonderful in The Manuscript. The most glaring problem is the occasional lengthy and poorly integrated "info dump", notably in the early pages where Burton's biography is shoehorned in. It would help the flow of the novel if the details are revealed as characters need to know them, with a much shorter summary at this point, and the presentation would be more elegant than it is. It's excusable because Burton is made to be so important to the story (though the authorship of the Manuscript turns out to be almost irrelevant to both its contents and the treasure hunt: it's just that an origin can be fitted into Burton's already crowded life story).
Although i haven't mentioned any of the characters so far, the central figures are well enough drawn to hold the interest, if rather glamourised. These are nerds as portrayed by Hollywood, people who prefer to work out than watch Star Trek re-runs.
The Manuscript is a successful techno-thriller, even with its absurd premise. Perhaps the geekiness of the Internet content will put some people off, butt you won't need to have heard of awk, sed or perl to enjoy the story. It works: there's tension and suspense, and the rivalry between the various groups searching for the Manuscript is well handled.
Sir Richard Burton was one of the most interesting Victorians - best known as a linguist and explorer, he translated the Arabian Nights into English and made the pilgrimage to Mecca forbidden to the infidel in disguise as an Arab, and co-led the expedition which discovered the source of the Nile. He is also well known to science fiction fans as the main character of Philip José Farmer's Riverworld series. Here, though, he appears as the author of "The Manuscript", a description of a trip he took into the Andes, discovering a remote tribe who possessed the answers to life's questions. Apparently lost when Burton's widow burnt his papers after his death, rumours suggest that The Manuscript is secretly hidden on an Internet server.
So far, so Da Vinci Code. A similar mixture of absurd and unlikely conspiracy theory and treasure hunt with a spiritual secret to be found. This is mixed in with the Internet thriller, along the lines of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and is written by someone who knows what he's talking about. Fuchs also thankfully writes in a far less clunky style than Dan Brown, who for this reader breaks the suspense every couple of paragraphs with some poorly phrased infelicity.
That is not to say that everything is wonderful in The Manuscript. The most glaring problem is the occasional lengthy and poorly integrated "info dump", notably in the early pages where Burton's biography is shoehorned in. It would help the flow of the novel if the details are revealed as characters need to know them, with a much shorter summary at this point, and the presentation would be more elegant than it is. It's excusable because Burton is made to be so important to the story (though the authorship of the Manuscript turns out to be almost irrelevant to both its contents and the treasure hunt: it's just that an origin can be fitted into Burton's already crowded life story).
Although i haven't mentioned any of the characters so far, the central figures are well enough drawn to hold the interest, if rather glamourised. These are nerds as portrayed by Hollywood, people who prefer to work out than watch Star Trek re-runs.
The Manuscript is a successful techno-thriller, even with its absurd premise. Perhaps the geekiness of the Internet content will put some people off, butt you won't need to have heard of awk, sed or perl to enjoy the story. It works: there's tension and suspense, and the rivalry between the various groups searching for the Manuscript is well handled.
September 29, 2013
This book has a great hook line. Who wouldn't want to know the secret of life and the universe? But it doesn't deliver much in the way of that. What it does deliver is a techno/action thriller that is humorous and sharp but also confusing. Characters are brought in suddenly and the reader has little chance of keeping up with who they are and why they were brought in.
I tried to stick with Miles who is the hero of the piece and it became annoying when the story left him. There is a nice bit near the end where Miles has a dream of what the true nature of the universe may be like but it was not ground breaking stuff.
I tried to stick with Miles who is the hero of the piece and it became annoying when the story left him. There is a nice bit near the end where Miles has a dream of what the true nature of the universe may be like but it was not ground breaking stuff.
February 11, 2013
I had to restart this one as the first time it failed to keep my attention. It starts of well enough, and the concept is good. But it gets very confusing with too many side characters to keep track of when you don't see most of them long enough to really get a good impression. I give it a meh.
August 15, 2018
Incredible
What an excellent novel - why isn’t it a movie - it would be brilliant - going to read all of his other works now - superb
What an excellent novel - why isn’t it a movie - it would be brilliant - going to read all of his other works now - superb
March 14, 2024
Guns Blazing All the Way to Enlightenment
I dove into this book because the Arisen series is a masterpiece and it’s fun for me to experience the many facets of my favorite authors. Fuchs’ writing style was indeed different here, focused on special activities like computer and weapons skills. But you can still see this novel as a precursor for his perfect mix of complex, talented characters involved in deadly serious situations with ridiculously funny coincidences and witty banter. While the humor was muted under the fast-paced action, I did burst out with a laugh when I got to the line, “Cool. Just don’t shoot me in the ass,” reminding me of the title to another of his other works.
Matthew Crow did a nice job narrating with his hot-shot news anchor baritone. I kept imaging Larry Potash from WGN’s Backstory as the man behind the microphone. There was a consistent separation of characters, and the speed of the read was perfect.
I think Dan Brown fans would enjoy this one for sure, although there’s a lot more guns than Brown usually includes and less religion, but similar in that there are geniuses running for their lives while solving one of the world’s greatest mysteries. The gun knowledge is evident and obviously continues to be a huge part of his writing today. It was a little funny to keep jumping from one urban gun fight to the next. “And that’s when the shooting started,” was a repeated line and rightly so. I loved the action in this book.
As far as characters go, I liked FreeBSD as the under-stimulated student turned drug dealer, Celeste as the independent, smart spy, The Cleaner for his simple rules of who to kill or not kill, the undercover cop with excellent intuition and the whole crew of the Angry Young Taoists with their VR games and goals of only stealing from bad corporations. Miles was cool for his computer skills, too. Overall, a fun, motley gang of interesting action story characters.
The mysticism of The Manuscript plays an important role as the driving force to motivate the characters and keep the storyline flowing. However, there’s surprisingly little detail, only a few specific allusions to what these South American secrets of life really are, as recorded in the infamous manuscript by Sir Richard Burton. A couple of these tidbits immediately reminded me of Graham Hancock’s theories on the history of human civilization, and I loved that. For those of us who find so much wrong with the institution of religion, you’re left with a satisfied feeling of accepting the simplicity of infinite existence and knowing that you ultimately must get there on your own. I’ve also started researching Burton and plan to do some reading on his fascinating life. I love it when good authors send my down rabbit holes, and it always happens with Fuchs.
I’m really glad to have recently listened to Ghost in the Wires because I felt Kevin Mitnick’s influence throughout The Manuscript, from the detailed technical jargon to the mention of social engineering and the importance of hacking skills in the book, and even to the online communications play-by-play. Those sections would have been better to read in a physical copy of the novel as it did get a little annoying to hear the senders and subject lines repeated in the narration. Either way, reading these two books now in 2024, put me on an interesting tour of our IT timeline. It was actually kind of fun to reflect on how modern communication has developed. Like I said, rabbit holes from talented writers.
I dove into this book because the Arisen series is a masterpiece and it’s fun for me to experience the many facets of my favorite authors. Fuchs’ writing style was indeed different here, focused on special activities like computer and weapons skills. But you can still see this novel as a precursor for his perfect mix of complex, talented characters involved in deadly serious situations with ridiculously funny coincidences and witty banter. While the humor was muted under the fast-paced action, I did burst out with a laugh when I got to the line, “Cool. Just don’t shoot me in the ass,” reminding me of the title to another of his other works.
Matthew Crow did a nice job narrating with his hot-shot news anchor baritone. I kept imaging Larry Potash from WGN’s Backstory as the man behind the microphone. There was a consistent separation of characters, and the speed of the read was perfect.
I think Dan Brown fans would enjoy this one for sure, although there’s a lot more guns than Brown usually includes and less religion, but similar in that there are geniuses running for their lives while solving one of the world’s greatest mysteries. The gun knowledge is evident and obviously continues to be a huge part of his writing today. It was a little funny to keep jumping from one urban gun fight to the next. “And that’s when the shooting started,” was a repeated line and rightly so. I loved the action in this book.
As far as characters go, I liked FreeBSD as the under-stimulated student turned drug dealer, Celeste as the independent, smart spy, The Cleaner for his simple rules of who to kill or not kill, the undercover cop with excellent intuition and the whole crew of the Angry Young Taoists with their VR games and goals of only stealing from bad corporations. Miles was cool for his computer skills, too. Overall, a fun, motley gang of interesting action story characters.
The mysticism of The Manuscript plays an important role as the driving force to motivate the characters and keep the storyline flowing. However, there’s surprisingly little detail, only a few specific allusions to what these South American secrets of life really are, as recorded in the infamous manuscript by Sir Richard Burton. A couple of these tidbits immediately reminded me of Graham Hancock’s theories on the history of human civilization, and I loved that. For those of us who find so much wrong with the institution of religion, you’re left with a satisfied feeling of accepting the simplicity of infinite existence and knowing that you ultimately must get there on your own. I’ve also started researching Burton and plan to do some reading on his fascinating life. I love it when good authors send my down rabbit holes, and it always happens with Fuchs.
I’m really glad to have recently listened to Ghost in the Wires because I felt Kevin Mitnick’s influence throughout The Manuscript, from the detailed technical jargon to the mention of social engineering and the importance of hacking skills in the book, and even to the online communications play-by-play. Those sections would have been better to read in a physical copy of the novel as it did get a little annoying to hear the senders and subject lines repeated in the narration. Either way, reading these two books now in 2024, put me on an interesting tour of our IT timeline. It was actually kind of fun to reflect on how modern communication has developed. Like I said, rabbit holes from talented writers.
July 24, 2024
I think this book is considerably better than its obscure status would suggest. For readers of a certain age, the idea that the secrets of the universe might be found on usenet and downloaded via ftp is almost irresistible. This definitely gives a feeling of that "perpetual graduate student/proto slacker" world of UNIX sysadmins that is probably gone forever. (If you have no idea what I am talking about then this may not be the book for you!) Overall the style is pacy and exciting (though a bit more editing would have helped) and the characters are engaging (even if they are engagingly nasty). My only two reservations are, firstly, that an editor should have got to the fact that the story depends on two (arguably even three) instances of the "spy exchange goes bad" trope and this is just too much for a single book. The other is that the author only _just_ stays on the right side of a book about the secrets of the universe falling apart when you have to come up with some real secrets (or risk sounding simply silly). Again, an editor might usefully have gone to work on some aspects of the "resolution". But despite this, I'd say if you want something thrilling and computerish, you could do a lot worse.
January 7, 2009
While the story was engaging and sometimes exhilarating (though it's multiple characters and groups of characters were a bit hard to keep track of), and it has that rare quality of describing the world of computers in a way that matches actual reality, it's ultimately a bit of a tease.
When the manuscript is discovered, we never do get to read all of it, which for me at least, was the whole point of picking up this novel. If you're just interested in cyber intrigue and gun fights, you might enjoy this book. But if you're holding out to see the manuscript of the title, don't bother - it isn't here.
When the manuscript is discovered, we never do get to read all of it, which for me at least, was the whole point of picking up this novel. If you're just interested in cyber intrigue and gun fights, you might enjoy this book. But if you're holding out to see the manuscript of the title, don't bother - it isn't here.
January 10, 2008
Fast paced and inventive techno-thriller, with some very nice descriptions of how geeks interface with the outside world.
However, the schmaltzy ending and the poor editing (phrases such as 'She shook her hair off of her as she entered the room' really should have been filtered out by a competent editor) let the book down.
However, the schmaltzy ending and the poor editing (phrases such as 'She shook her hair off of her as she entered the room' really should have been filtered out by a competent editor) let the book down.
June 11, 2014
Many parts of this novel felt as amateur as most author debuts. However, it brought actual, real-life technology into the story unobtrusively, which I found quite refreshing. A fun summer read for my first piece of fiction this June.
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August 3, 2011kinda fun
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews