CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Disciples (novel)

1993 novel

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 31, 2026
Entity authorityQ7730299 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Disciples is a 1993 spy thriller by Joe Andrew, who was chairman of the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and V.C. Andrews.

Plot

From the bookjacket

"After a recruiter for the National Security Agency goes AWOL, NSA information analyst T.C. Steele must track her down."

Reception

Critical reception for The Disciples was mixed. Kirkus Reviews called the book "An engrossing thriller--and first novel--that displays a firm grasp of conspiracy theory". Publishers Weekly wrote that although the book had "a few good twists and a clean prose style", it had "little here to recommend".

Editorial summary

“The Disciples (novel)” enters the record as 1993 novel. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Disciples and novel can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 2000—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1993-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Disciples and novel.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Disciples (novel)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Disciples and novel provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7730299. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1993 and 2000.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Disciples (novel)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Disciples (novel) primary sources, The Disciples (novel) archive and Disciples research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Disciples (novel)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Disciples (novel)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.