- Audio CD
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Abridged edition (May 24 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1427212880
- ISBN-13: 978-1427212887
- Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 13.5 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,401,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Half of the writing team responsible for Relic, The Cabinet of Curiosities and other adventure bestsellers takes a solo flight, as Preston's writing partner, Lincoln Child, did in last year's Utopia. Like Child, Preston flies high and fast, turning in a briskly involving science-based thriller. The titular book is a Mayan artifact containing the sum of that people's knowledge about the medical applications of indigenous plants. The information is worth billions to any pharmaceutical company, but the Codex, along with numerous other priceless objects, was taken deep into the Honduran jungle by dying legendary tomb robber Maxwell Broadbent, to be buried along with him in a secret crypt. Max left instructions to his three grown sons that the only way to get their inheritance will be for them to track him and find the tomb. Max, who viewed his progeny as "quasi-failures," reasoned that by accomplishing this daunting task, the three-a veterinarian, a hippie spiritual seeker and a second-rate professor-will have proven themselves as men. What follows is rip-roaring jungle adventure, outfitted with a nasty villain (a sadistic PI who's also after the treasures), a beautiful blonde (partner to the vet), two memorable Indian characters, hosts of wild animals, terrific atmosphere and cliffhangers galore. The novel's main weakness is its lack of a strong central protagonist-the characters work more as an ensemble cast-such as Preston/Child have presented in their wonderful series detective, Special Agent Pendergast. Yet as always, Preston delivers the goods in a first-rate beach novel that most readers will be enjoying-at least in hardcover-while looking at snow rather than sand.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
“A totally engrossing experience.”—Audiofile on Cabinet of Curiosities
“Three sons are searching for their dying father who has vanished into the Central American jungle with the art and artifacts of a lifetime of collecting...cover to cover adventure...moves like a tropical thunderstorm.”—Barbara D’Amato, Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner
“The Codex is an archaeological thriller at its very best, fast and fascinating. If you like The Da Vinci Code, you'll really love The Codex.”—Michael and Kathleen Gear, USA TODAY bestselling authors of the People series
“Three sons are searching for their dying father who has vanished into the Central American jungle with the art and artifacts of a lifetime of collecting...cover to cover adventure...moves like a tropical thunderstorm.”—Barbara D’Amato, Mary Higgins Clark Award Winner
“The Codex is an archaeological thriller at its very best, fast and fascinating. If you like The Da Vinci Code, you'll really love The Codex.”—Michael and Kathleen Gear, USA TODAY bestselling authors of the People series
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Tom Broadbent turned the last corner of the winding drive and found his two brothers already waiting at the great iron gates of the Broadbent compound. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tom Broadbent turned the last corner of the winding drive and found his two brothers already waiting at the great iron gates of the Broadbent compound. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'll be at the front of the line for the movie version!,
By
This review is from: The Codex (Mass Market Paperback)
Mayan ruins; anacondas and bushmasters; cougars, piranhas, agoutis and macaques; bloodthirsty mosquitoes; poison darts and arrows; vine bridges over impossibly deep chasms and raging torrents; Indian mummies; lost tribes; impenetrable, steamy rainforest and jungle; buried treasure, machetes; dugout canoes; heroes and villains; plus an earthy, eco-friendly but suitably gorgeous love interest - Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark certainly had nothing over Douglas Preston's rollicking thriller "The Codex".During his life, Maxwell Broadbent, billionaire art and antiquities collector and noted treasure hunter and tomb robber, thought his three sons, Tom, Philip and Vernon, misguided and lacking in the drive and ambition to be the best they could be. So, when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he decided to set them a quest whose successful completion would prove them worthy of earning their fabulous inheritance. Emptying his vast estate of all of its treasures, Broadbent left behind a video for his sons reporting his impending death and informing them that he was burying himself and all of his art, jewels, artifacts and trinkets in a carefully concealed tomb whose location of course was not disclosed. The clear directive was "Come and get me. If you find it, you earned it"! And, of course, as Sherlock might have said, the game was definitely afoot! One of the artifacts - a 9th century Mayan manuscript called a codex - is a 2000 page catalog of rainforest drugs and medicines together with instructions on how to extract and use them. Its almost incalculable value to the pharmaceutical industry provides an exciting sub-plot and gives Preston the opportunity to showcase his well known ability to provide readers with interesting technical sidebars that inform and entertain without disrupting the flow of a wonderful, high speed thriller. In this case we savour juicy tidbits about medicines, stock manipulation, corporate fraud, the pharmaceutical industry and the history and practice of archeology and treasure hunting. The climax and ending is pure Hollywood entertainment and suitably over the top. But, what the heck, it's warm and satisfying without being hopelessly sappy and will bring a smile to every reader's face. I will definitely be at the front of the line to see the movie version when it's released! Definitely recommended. Paul Weiss
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable,
By Beamer (Duke University) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Codex (Hardcover)
It will be impossible to review this book without a comparison to Lincoln Child's Utopia, so I'll do it first.This book is smoother than Utopia. The flow is quicker, the rhythm is more solid, and the book has much more of a brisk pace. Much of this comes from more dialogue and shorter paragraphs. Is smooth necessarily good? In this case yes. The book is an adventure book, through-and-through, and plays well with the speed. The characters are stereotypes, but they're supposed to be. The setup of the book, as you can already tell, is a tad contrived. Aren't they always? The rest of the book works, though, with little groaning or reason to complain. The largest groan, perhaps, could be sex between two people that have spent over a month in the wet, rain-soaked jungle without a proper shower or hygeine concerns. Oral sex, in fact. Improbable, unlikely, completely unbelievable. Overall, though, you can feel the lack of Child, especially after reading Utopia (which, in retrospect, has a lack of Preston). Child seems to be best at bringing slower points of the book - plot developments and information. Preston seems best at bringing the action and dialogue. Neither concentrates much on character development, even though the characters do evolve more here than other adventures they evolve very predictably (yet satisfyingly.) A solid read, great for the beach or a weekend trip. Recommended. On a side note: in the battle of the gimmicky, transparent sidekicks Preston takes the lead. Hairy Bugger isn't nearly as throwaway or one-dimensional plotwise as Wingnut was. Wingnut was a huge groan, Hairy Bugger just a mild one.
4.0 out of 5 stars
ENJOYABLE,
By Lawyer Gal (Northern New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Codex (Hardcover)
I listened to the Audio CD version of this book and it was abridged. Therefore, I did not know about the "sex scene" between Tom and Sally until I read one of the reviews here. Nor do I now know what happened with respect to the pharmaceutical CEO who was hoping to buy the Codex from Hauser. The CD version never discussed it after the scene between Hauser and the CEO when the CEO agreed to buy the Codex. Can someone fill me in on what I missed? Thanks.
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