THE CODEX

THE CODEX
by Douglas Preston
396 pages
ISBN: 0-765-30700-6
Forge
December 8, 2003
$24.95

Eccentric father is what everyone would call Maxwell Broadbent who also wants the best for his sons. However, the wishes of Maxwell’s perception of his sons has the all the sons resentful and in Maxwell’s eye, all of his sons are failures.

In THE CODEX, Maxwell is dying of cancer and wants his sons to earn their inheritance. He has achieved his own goals in life of finding immense wealth while being born with nothing. His sons, to his chagrin, have been pampered and have always taken the easy way out of solving their problems. To challenge them, he has stripped his estate of its wealth and taken it with him. He has had the luscious art works buried and sealed in a hidden tomb with his dead body. The sons’ task is to jointly find the tomb.

The sons independently go off in three different directions at first since they are all grown and don’t communicate well with each other. The eldest son manages to include Maxwell’s old partner who for mysterious reasons has not communicated with him for years. Something happened years ago that caused the two to hate each other.

Another involvement looking for the tomb involved what is in the tomb which is the Mayan codex which has all the natural cures for diseases. Though the book had been found and known about for years, a professor had broken the code of the Mayan language. This codex, then, if found, can now be translated and used today. Unfortunately, a drug company knows of this and plans to have the codex insure their future.

THE CODEX is a race to find the wealth in the hidden tomb. Will the sons work together ever? Who will get there first?

Douglas Preston has written numerous books on his own and with Lincoln Child. He has worked for the American Museum of Natural History and leads the life he desires. He has even retraced Coronado’s exploration path.

This book is fast-paced, adventurous, and thrilling. All the characters are very believable and their personality faults make them almost lovable. Their learning how to work with each other and to discover their personal integrity and their own values is what makes this novel a wonderful experience.