“Pulls you into the depths of a secret world from the first page. Ian Smith’s novel is unmissable.” –Harlan Coben, author of Missing You Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fall 1988 Spenser Collins An unlikely Harvard prospect, smart and athletic, strapped for cash, determined to succeed. Calls his mother–who raised him on her own in Chicago–every week. Dalton Winthrop A white-shoe legacy at … week.
Dalton Winthrop
A white-shoe legacy at Harvard, he’s just the most recent in a string of moneyed, privileged Winthrop men in Cambridge. He’s got the ease–and the deep knowledge–that come from belonging.
These two find enough common ground to become friends, cementing their bond when Spenser is “punched” to join the Delphic Club, one of the most exclusive of Harvard’s famous all-male final clubs. Founded in the nineteenth century, the Delphic has had titans of industry, Hollywood legends, heads of state, and power brokers among its members.
Dalton Winthrop knows firsthand that the Delphic doesn’t offer memberships to just anyone. His great-uncle is one of their oldest living members, and Dalton grew up on stories of the club’s rituals. But why is his uncle so cryptic about the Ancient Nine, a shadowy group of alums whose identities are unknown and whose power is absolute? They protect the Delphic’s darkest and oldest secrets–including what happened to a student who sneaked into the club’s stately brick mansion in 1927 and was never seen again.
Dalton steers Spenser into deeper and deeper recesses of the club, and beyond, to try to make sense of what they think they may be seeing. But with each scrap of information they get from an octogenarian Crimson graduate, a crumbling newspaper in the library’s archives, or one of Harvard’s most famous and heavily guarded historical books, a fresh complication trips them up. The more the friends investigate, the more questions they unearth, tangling the story of the club, the disappearance, and the Ancient Nine, until they realize their own lives are in danger.
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Pulls you into the depths of a secret world from the first page. Ian Smith’s novel is unmissable.
With a masterful hand, Ian Smith has written a novel that immerses us in the dark intrigue of one of the country’s oldest secret societies. The Ancient Nine is thrilling, exciting, and shocking from beginning to end.
The Ancient Nine is my first book by Ian K. Smith. There is a rather big age gap between me and the characters for this book, so it wasn’t as exciting for me as it probably would be for younger readers. If I had to label this book I’d call it a thriller for YA or NA readers. Mr. Smith has delivered a book that is full of moments when you want to tell the characters, “Don’t do that!” Like watching a movie and the dumb blonde is going into the basement…you just know something horrible is there. So yes, there is plenty of drama, suspense, some romance and a little action in this book to keep readers engaged. Spencer and his buddy Dalton have set their course to solve a mystery. I love the characters in this story. While this book didn’t rate 5 stars from me, I believe younger readers will adore it. The Ancient Nine is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Favorite Quotes:
I rarely felt self-conscious about what I did or didn’t have, but it wasn’t lost on me that my competitors for a coveted membership were arriving in expensive foreign cars while I arrived in a pair of sturdy five-year-old Florsheims that had been resoled four times and polished so much, the white stitching had turned black.
The racial politics at Harvard were complicated. Black students were in a tough position. If we spent too much time with white students, other blacks figured we had sold out. If we spent too much time with other black students, our white classmates figured we were angry separatists. The dining hall was one big murky fishbowl of social complexities. Everyone looked to see who was sitting with whom and how much time they spent interacting on the “other” side. I was lucky because playing a sport gave me a pass that the non-athletes didn’t have. By dint of my team and training obligations, I automatically spent time with both blacks and whites, which gave me immunity.
He had heavy bags under his eyes, as if miniature pillows had been slipped under his skin. He was military stocky and wore a pair of jeans that looked tight enough to constipate him.
Her T-shirt had j-u-i-c-y spread across it in small crystals, and the fabric was under so much tension, I thought the I was going to pop off and hit me in the face.
There were two things about Professor Charles Davenport that you’d never forget. He probably had the biggest ears of any man that’s walked the face of the earth, long doughy flaps that fell beneath his jawline with a forest of hair growing out of them. Then there were those glasses, big and black and rectangular, made all the more prominent by his hairless dome.
She had an uncanny ability to quickly put things into perspective and make molehills out of mountains.
Many people never even bothered leaving the tailgates, and most of those who did only entered the stadium at halftime, when their champagne had run dry or their canisters of caviar were empty. This crowd even cheered differently. They didn’t yell and clap like most football fans. Rather they spoke complete, grammatically correct sentences, saying things like, “What a magnificent play!” and “Thrash them, Harvard!” Sometimes it was difficult to tell if they were watching a football game or croquet match.
When the Harvard side of the stadium rose in unison, it was not to clap, but to jingle car keys in a massive show of approval. I watched in awe as thousands of Jaguar, Mercedes, and Rolls-Royce keys dangled in the air…
Money has an insidious way of making decent human beings behave in a most indecent way.
My Review:
I wasn’t prepared for the complexity of this intriguing read and held on through a complicated and intricately woven tale with multiple yet equally compelling storylines. I pictured a handsome future President of recent history as the main character and it was a near perfect fit. There were compounded secrets within secrets and an endless and tantalizing quagmire to unravel. The writing was insightfully observant and sumptuously detailed. I reveled in Dr. Smith’s vividly colorful and amusing descriptions and looked forward to the introductions of each new character and locale. His premise pricked my curiosity and his well-crafted storylines kept it well fed while consistently pulling me in deeper and deeper into the group’s knotty and clandestine vortex. Like an iceberg, little was as it appeared to the eye. The characters were oddly unique and quirky, even the sinister ones held my interest and left me thirsting for more. The ending was highly satisfying with Spenser’s achieved results being better than expected and left a contented smile on my face.
The Ancient Nine is a mystery thriller about hidden dark secrets, privilege, power, history and secret societies. I got hooked from the very first page finding it hard to put my tablet down.
The story is well-written and well research. A well-built plot and sub-plots and twists and turns when you least expected. Well rounded, and believable characters that will give you the chills after some google research (supposedly the story is based on real events).
The one of the few things Spenser Collins and Dalton Winthrop have in common is that both are students at Harvard. However, they become good friends and while trying to uncover a mystery, they found themselves in danger. (I’m sorry, buit this is all you getting for me. I hate spoilers!)
This was a very interesting and entertaining read and highly recommend it!
I listened to this in Audible. It was a spell-bounding suspense that kept me guessing until the end. A wonderful experience. Intriguing with great characters.
Lynda Rees, Author
lyndareesautho.com
I love this kind of a mystery and what made this one unique is that the lead character is African-American. Good read!
Fabulous from beginning to end! I didn’t want to put it down and loved every second of it. It reminded me of a combination of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and writings about the Knights Templar. Smith has done it again – his other book, The Blackbird Papers was also a compelling read. Well done! The Da Vinci Code The Blackbird Papers
Full Disclosure: I received early access to this book in exchange for writing an impartial review.
This is a well-constructed mystery that will keep you turning each page. And that makes it a quick read. Along the way, there’s a bit of history woven in, lots of library research, a connection to British knights, and a bunch of secrets to be discovered. You also get a peak into the elite world of attending Harvard University, with random tidbits about which dorms are considered the most prestigious, which famous people attended, and where Harvard students in-the-know go to eat.
But for me, this is so obviously a book written by a male writer for a male reader, especially if that reader happened to attend Harvard University or some other male-dominated Ivy League school. I felt I was reading a book that would have been published in the 1940s or 1950s, rather than taking place in the late 1980s.
At its core, this is a deep dive into white male privilege — no matter that the main character, Spenser Collins, is an Afro-American from the streets of Chicago who plays basketball for Harvard. (Sound a little trite already, maybe?) The story focuses on Spenser’s initiation into the shadow world of Harvard’s private clubs, where rich and powerful alumni have created a “brotherhood” that unites the elite across generations. In fact, Spenser is so consumed with solving club mysteries and attending basketball practices that he (along with his rich friend Dalton) seldom seem to do any actual studying.
As a woman reading about this world, so much of what happens seems downright childish to me. Boys breaking into dorm rooms in the middle of the night to frighten and blindfold students for assorted hazing rituals. Secretly delivered letters informing a few select students who is in and who is out at which private club. Lots of forced alcohol consumption, followed by raucous laughter when pledgers end up violently vomiting. Imposed risk taking and, of course, the requisite mooning. Plus, lots of careless sex with anonymous women — always provided by club members to pledgers as a sort of celebratory gift. I think the most offensive section for me was when pledgers end an offsite ritual by being delivered to a group of beautiful women, wearing nothing but high heels, who stand waiting to “entertain” them. (Are we talking male fantasy here or what?)
At the end of the book, when the final secrets are revealed, the solution feels contrived — with a whole bunch of new elements introduced and then elaborately intertwined. For me, it did not constitute sufficient payoff for slogging through so much overt sexism and boy play.
Harvard, 1988: Student Spenser Collins is being “punched” (nominated) for membership into the Delphic Club. The group is one of nine final clubs associated with Harvard. A final club is a prestigious and exclusive all-male social club.
Spenser doesn’t exactly fit the mold of a member. He’s black and grew up poor on the South Side of Chicago. Most, if not all, members are white and scions of the wealthiest families.
Feeling honored for consideration, Spenser accepts an invitation to a Delphic
cocktail party. While at the get-together and speaking with the club president, he gets the uneasy feeling that they too much about him and his history.
Now curious, Spenser, along with his friend Dalton Winthrop, begin to research the Delphic’s past.
They soon discover the case of student gone missing in 1927 after breaking into the Delphic mansion on Halloween night. That student purportedly wanted to find a rumored hidden chamber and the secrets it may hold.
Spenser and Dalton dig deeper and uncover more mysteries and startling revelations.
And the existence of the Ancient Nine, a secret society within the Delphic’s secret society.
Will they bring to light the secrets of….”The Ancient Nine”!
They’re on a trail of shocking mystery. Fine writing, suspenseful and full of Harvard history and lore, “The Ancient Nine” is a compulsive read.
Highly recommend.
Slow to read and at times boring.
The Ancient Nine by Ian K. Smith is a book for people who like to work out puzzles and mysteries.
A poor black kid from south side Chicago, Spenser Collins worked for academic excellence, supported by his single mom. He is also a talented basketball player. His acceptance by Harvard University starts him on his way to medical school so he can pay his mom back and support her in style.
If getting into Harvard seemed like a stretch, receiving an invitation from an exclusive final club, the Gas, totally puts Spenser outside of his comfort zone. His friend Dalton, whose family has deep Boston and Harvard roots, encourages him to go for it. There is a mystery behind the Gas involving a secret chamber and a dead student in 1951. Dalton encourages Spenser that from inside the club he can solve the mystery of what really happened in 1951.
Elaborate parties with endless drinks and gourmet food, and sometimes even ‘provided’ women, is the social norm for the Gas. While the other boys overindulge, Spenser stays dry and trim for basketball.
Spenser and Dalton go on a chase that involves day jaunts to talk to elderly Gas members and hours spent in dusty libraries. They create a patchwork quilt of evidence, but none of it adds up.
Meanwhile, Spenser has met the love of his life, a townie who doesn’t date Harvard men. She is also from a poor single mom and smart and determined to get an education.
I knew nothing about Harvard or final clubs or Cambridge. It all sounded pretty over the top to me, but a Goggle search confirmed these clubs are elite, with the 1% of the wealthiest and most prestigious families being members. The parties at mansions, the money, the exclusiveness, the white male predominance– it’s all real. I sure hope the bussed in women for the parties are not real, but I likely am hoping in vain.
The story dragged about mid-way. I was getting tired of late nights at libraries. The mystery involves King James I and puritanical writings and Knights of the Garter protecting the reputation of the King. It’s all about libraries and books and a coverup.
For all the tension over perceived threats, it was all talk and little action. There is a revelation about corrupt money and power and Spenser learns about his family history.
One aspect of the story I liked was how it addressed the African American experience in this nearly all-white exclusive world of movers and shakers.
Overall, The Ancient Nine was an entertaining light read.
If you are a fan of Dan Brown’s “Robert Langdon” series (ANGELS & DEMONS. THE DAVINCI CODE) this is the book for you.
Set at Harvard University in 1988, student Spenser Collins finds an engraved invitation slipped under his dorm room door to “punch” for the most elite of the final clubs – the Delphic Club.
At first he thinks it is a prank as he is definitely not the stereotypical final club member. His single mother worked hard to make Harvard a reality for her son. So not sure of what it means, he asks his friend Dalton.
Dalton Winthrop seems more the type for the Delphic Club. But Dalton, thoroughly shocked, assures Spenser the invite is authentic. It is from Dalton that Spenser becomes aware of the deeply buried secrets the Delphic clubhouse conceals. While Dalton was not punched for the Delphic himself, he has heard many stories about the club from his great-uncle who is a member.
Dalton is highly curious about a group within the Delphic Club known as the Ancient Nine. These nine men are all-powerful and hold sacred the history – and the secrets – of the club. Dalton believes they may have gone as far as murder to protect its secrets. He hopes that through Spenser he can get answers as to what happened to a college student who, in 1927, entered the Delphic clubhouse and was never seen again. This will be a challenge though as no one knows the identity of these nine men, men who have taken an oath to preserve the club secrets as long as they live.
As Spenser explores the Delphic clubhouse for clues he can sense the power of those men who came before him. Every turn reveals expensive original artworks, massive furniture, rare books, and a trophy room. He is surrounded by portraits and photo of past members. The story slowly reveals hints that just create more questions for Spenser and Dalton. As they are drawn deeper into the web of secrets they come to realize that their lives may now be in jeopardy. Who are these Ancient Nine? Do they really exist?
I really enjoyed the bits of Harvard history given in the story. There have always been conspiracy theory stories related to Harvard and its secretive final clubs – and its famous alumni. Ian Smith writes beautifully of the clubs’ camaraderie and how these clubs, while offering a place for its members to withdraw from the larger hectic university life, also lent a feeling of superiority with their aura of secrecy and exclusiveness.
I enjoyed everything about the story – the perfectly timed pacing, the excellent character development, the tad of romance, the suspense.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the advance egalley.
The Ancient Nine is a mysterious story about the intriguing hidden life of the elite final clubs of Harvard Universities. The story is well paced and involves a lot of history about something that I didn’t even know existed until now. Connections are made and details revealed throughout the story in places where the reader wouldn’t expect. There were times where the history and information about Harvard and the final clubs revealed would start to be unnecessarily detailed.
There is a real coming of age feeling to Spenser’s story that I greatly enjoyed. When I researched Ian K Smith MD and found out The Ancient Nine and Spenser’s experience with The Delphic Club was largely based off of Smith’s own experiences, that only made me enjoy it more.
I voluntarily received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.