Neville, Katherine. The Eight. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988. ISBN 0-345-36623-9 LCCN 87-91363 Fiction

This entertaining thriller moves back and forth between two different time periods. In Revolutionary France, a young novice nun, Mireille de Remy, protects the Montglane Chess Service, a legendary chess set which once belonged to Charlemagne and which holds a secret of immense power, against the forces of evil. In 1972, Catherine Velis, a computer expert for a Big Eight accounting firm, travels to Algeria to find the Montglane Chess Service and, with the help of a young Russian chess master, to decipher its secret. The fast-moving plot involves music, magic numbers, Masonry, mysticism, and historical figures such as Charlotte Corday, Marat, Talleyrand, Robespierre, and Napoleon. With elements of historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy, The Eight does not fit into any genre, but remains in a class by itself. Highly recommended.