The Codex

Max Broadbent, who is dying of cancer, leaves a videotape to his three sons announcing that he has buried himself and his half-billion dollar art and antiquities collection in a tomb in an undisclosed location. If the sons want their inheritance, they must track down the tomb. This begins a long treasure hunt through the jungles and rain forests of Honduras. The title refers to a codex, a Mayan compendium of plant pharmacology that becomes the most hotly contested object of the treasure hunt.

The story line switches between the separate treasure hunting parties and the pharmaceutical company executive who desperately needs the codex to keep his company from going bankrupt. The action converges in a final showdown over the treasure.

There show more are so many exotic natives, battles between man and beast, chases, narrow escapes, and ancient ruins that it resembles an Indiana Jones film. In fact, the story is perfectly suited to become a movie. The premise of this story might be far-fetched, but stay with it and you will be rewarded with a grand adventure, full of danger, treachery and surprises. show less

Review by Jeremy Taylor

The Codex, Douglas Preston’s first solo novel since the commencement of his highly successful collaborations with Lincoln Child (The Relic, Cabinet of Curiosities, Book of the Dead, etc.), is a rip-roaring adventure story coupled with a cautionary morality tale. Though it contains no real spiritual substance, the book is in some ways a grim portrayal of a rather extreme consequence of ignoring two widely recognized Scripture passages: Proverbs 22:6 (“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it”) and 1 Timothy 6:10 (“The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”).

As the story opens, the three sons of Maxwell Broadbent, a noted art and antiquities show more collector, arrive at the family estate to find their father’s entire collection—worth billions—missing, along with their father himself. They suspect that their father has been kidnapped and his fortune stolen until they discover a video their father has left behind, on which he informs them that he has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Feeling that his sons have become spoiled and unworthy of his fortune, he has taken everything with him to be buried in an undisclosed location. If the sons want to see any of their inheritance, they will first have to find his tomb.

All three sons have different motivations for undertaking what turns out to be a very dangerous quest. Philip, the oldest, is motivated primarily by greed but also by a sort of artistic justice. He wants the cash, but he also can’t abide the thought of priceless paintings and other items rotting away in his father’s tomb. Vernon, the youngest, is motivated primarily by a misguided sense of spiritual obligation. He wants the cash so he can give it to the leader of his cult. And Tom, the level-headed protagonist, is motivated by his desire to find his father but also by his growing attraction for the mysterious woman who joins him in his quest. The woman, Sally Colorado, wants to find Broadbent’s tomb because of one of the artifacts the old man has taken with him: an ancient Mayan codex containing lost medicinal secrets that could help mankind.

There are other players involved in the search as well. Maxwell Broadbent’s old partner hopes to take the wealth for himself. The CEO of a major pharmaceutical company hopes to steal the secrets of the codex and convert them into financial gain. A college professor hopes to sell the codex overseas. And a strange tribe of natives living deep in the Honduran jungle seem to want to find the tomb for reasons known only to themselves.

As the Broadbent sons set out to retrieve their fortune, they encounter all the kinds of obstacles one would hope and expect to find in an Indiana Jones–like adventure story. Maniacal villains, bloodthirsty mosquitoes, a wildcat, snakes, poison darts, and more conspire to keep them from their goal. And it all works; Preston has not sacrificed any of his storytelling ability in this solo venture.

The Codex is a fun book to read. It’s got it all—heroes, danger, a hunt for buried treasure, villains, a jungle, betrayal, redemption, and a beautiful heroine (and, unfortunately, an unnecessarily steamy sex scene and a few rather gruesome scenes of violence). Preston manages to make the spoiled and greedy Broadbents mostly likeable in spite of themselves, and the climactic ending is satisfying if a tad predictable. The book’s one big flaw is the message it seems to be sending. Rather than learning from his parenting mistakes encouraging his sons to turn away from their desire for earthly wealth, Maxwell Broadbent gives as the apparent moral of the story the Disneyesque notion that if you just follow your heart and believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. But other than a few instances of objectionable content and a wishy-washy moral, The Codex is a great adventure story that fits comfortably into the pattern of the genre.

(http://www.cerebralexchange.com/books/reviews.asp?book=264&host=1) show less

I've never read an "action" story with so little action; nor have I ever read a "puzzle" story with so few (in fact, zero puzzles). I was very disappointed with The Codex which I thought would be an Indiana Jones-ish romp around the world. Instead it turned into a travelogue of why not to journey through the Honduran jungle for weeks at a time.

Maxwell Broadbent, wealthy "tomb raider" and collector of arts and antiquities, has discovered he is dying of cancer, and has decided to hide himself and his vast fortune of arts and treasures from the past in the tomb of an ancient civilization, challenging his three sons to earn their inheritance by finding his burial place. Among the treasures secreted away is a Mayan Codex, an ancient compendium of Mayan medicines and cures, of incalculable wealth to any pharmaceutical company. The three sons, long-estranged from their judgmental and disapproving father, eventually join their efforts to track down their father's final resting spot in the Honduran jungle, and must contend not only against the Central American jungle, but an show more unscrupulous and dangerous foe who has learned of the Codex, and will stop at nothing to possess it. A good and suspenseful summer read by one of my favorite practitioners of the suspense thriller genre. show less

Preston isn't exactly a master of the English language. The book is fairly fast-paced and makes for a quick, easy read. But the majority of the plot points towards the end are ludicrous, and it devolves into a sappy family reunion. Worth reading if you happen to have it, but I wouldn't suggest going out and looking for it.

Maxwell Broadbent disappears with half a billion dollars worth of art. His sons are called to the carpet by the police they summon after they think the house has been robbed until they find out that the "looter" is their own father.

If you want to feel better about one of your parents, this book is an entertaining way to thank your lucky stars that Maxwell Broadbent is not your dad.

This is also a book about trust, which turns notions of what I think about people a bit on their heads.

The most interesting part to me was the Codex, a Mayan encyclopedia of all the plants, insects and animals in the rainforest and their medicinal properties. It was so fascinating to me that, while the bad guys wanted the art, money and jewels, the things show more that everyone really wanted was the Codex. show less

The Codex starts off with a great premise. Billionaire Max Broadbent, who is dying of cancer, disappears and leaves a video for his three sons. In order to get their inheritance, which he packed away with him, they have to find him in a jungle in South America. Sounds great. And although the novel has some good points, there is much that detracts from it. One is believability, which this novel lacks in abundance. The other thing that thoroughly annoyed me to no end was the presence of the evil, diabolical, shadowy pharmaceutical company. This has become so tired and trite in novels and movies that it makes me physically ill when I come across it. I would hope for some more originality from Mr. Preston. At any rate, the novel has many show more twists and turns, which were not always believable.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity show less