Rating: 
Summary: Wow!!! A total page-turner
Review: I never read editorial reviews before I read a book because they often give away too much of the plot. So glad I didn't for
The Codex, otherwise I wouldn't have been so intrigued with the first few chapters wondering who absconded with a half billion dollars of art work. I had just finished Cabinet of Curiosities and Still Life with Crows (both of which I loved, loved, loved),
and went to Border's searching for more of the same. How delighted I was to see a brand new book by 1/2 of this great writing team.
Three brothers are off to Central America searching for their father's legacy. Each has separately enlisted a person to help him on his journey...a pharmacologist, an insurance company head, and a cult leader who have their own motives for helping.
When their quest begins at the mouth of the river and with 300 pages remaining, I honestly felt there would not be enough to sustain my interest. Oh, my, was I wrong! Every page was a new
adventure. Visually, Preston's descriptions are amazing and oftentimes very frightening. His characters run the gamut from
heroic to spineless, noble to comic...those you want to slap and those you want to give a standing ovation to. During some of the final chapters I couldn't decide whether to just take a break from the tension or continue reading to get it over with.
I soooo thoroughly enjoyed this book!
After passing this on to my friend, I laughed when she came into work one morning all bleary-eyed having been up until 4:00 a.m. because she just HAD to finish it. That's what a great book is all about.
Rating: 
Summary: More absorbing than watching paint dry ... barely.
Review: Yawn. Well, I guess now we know which one of the Child/Preston writing juggernaut is the talented one: not Douglas Preston. At least, not in this book.
Paper-thin plot peopled by entirely artificial characters. Rugged cowboy? Check. Misfit seeker hippie? Check. Materialistic aesthete? Check. Arrogant, quixotic patriarch? Check. Beautiful, utterly humourless feminist scientist? Check. Wise Man of the Jungle who will teach Important Lessons About Life to the above? Check, and check.
Throw all the above characters into a painfully derivative and frequently baffling story line, mix with a dose of stealth Christian evangelism, bake for 2-3 hours, and voila; one entirely untransported reader. The two stars that I gave it in this review were for Hairy Bugger, the monkey, and the Don Alfonso, the withered Indian guide. It's a pity that these two didn't get to be in a book that was worthy of them.
In summary, don't waste your money, and if you find a petition that would forbid Preston from writing a novel without the help of Lincoln Childs (who proved he could solo with his techno-thriller, Utopia), don't hesitate to sign it.
Rating:
Summary: Gloriously Stupid
Review: So, like, this rich guy's dying of cancer but he still has enough get-up-and-go to schlep $1 billion worth of renaissance art, ancient books, gold and silver, etc to central america, across a vast swamp, up a river guarded by indians with serious anger management issues, to an ancient redoubt deep in the cloudforest. And he's gonna, like, bury himself with all this stuff. And then his three sons (by three different mothers) set out -- individually -- to stop him. And then--Well, I won't give it away. It's an utterly ridiculous story, too silly even for Hollywood (though I'm probably wrong about that). Still, the writing ain't bad, and if your TV's busted, well, this might be a good way to kill a few hours.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!! I lost some sleep reading this one!
Review: I've been a fan of all the Preston/Child books. They are fun exciting reads. This is the first solo book I've read. I skipped Lincoln Child's Utopia. This is one helluva great adventure novel. I could not put it down. I read late into the night and then found myself taking it to work to read on breaks. I'm not going to bother describing the plot. Let me just say that this is actually a better book than the Preston/Child books. There is none of the supernatural crap that they always seem to throw in their books and no Agent Pendergast! I am not a great fan of that character.
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome to the Jungle...Again
Review: After reading a glowing review in Entertainment Weekly magazine, I was really looking forward to Preston's new book. I've been a fan of he and Child for a long time, although I've been disapointed with their last few books. Although not disappointed with "Codex," I found it to be so-so. It suffers from a predictable plot and characters. You know the two leads, thrust together into a high intensity situation, are going to fall for each other. You know that they will find what they are looking for. You know the bad guy is going to meet his doom in the end. An enjoyable read but nothing special. It distresses me a bit to think that all the writers that work in the thriller genre (Preston/Child, Matthew Reilly, Steve Alten, James Rollins) are all copying each other. "Codex" seems to have elements in common with "Temple," "Amazonia," and "Domain." They all harken back to "Congo" by the original thriller writer, Crichton. I hope they can all break their wave of familiarity and come up with some fresh ideas soon. I'm aching for a great story.
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding solo effort from Preston, better than Utopia
Review: I am absolutely impressed with Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child as writing partners. They have not once let me down with any of their novels. Some of course are better than others, but ALL of them share one thing in common: they are GOOD. When Lincoln Child released his solo 'Utopia' I was also surprised with a very fun and action-oriented thriller based upon the world's most sophisticated Theme Park just outside of Las Vegas. Then came the latest from both authors, 'Still Life With Crows', which I thought wasn't as good as 'Utopia'. Well I am happy to say that 'The Codex' is even BETTER. I wouldn't go so far as to say that either author are better alone than they are together, especially when they are writing at their best, but you can definitely see that both have natural storytelling talent. The Codex is a Mythological adventure tale based upon the ancient Mayan Codex which is rumored to have hundreds of years worth of medicinal uses for the millions of plants that grow in the wilds of Central & South America. On the surface alone this Codex ought to be priceless for the archaeolgical value alone, but if you delve deeper to see the medical uses that could possibly be found within its pages, you could say that the dollar amount it would be worth could easily pass the several billion mark. An estranged Father who spent the bulk of his adult life plundering ancient tombs and hoarding it away until the value was into the hundreds of millions of dollars, suddenly finds himself facing his life coming to a close -- rapidly. With this knowledge comes his most frightening thought: what should be done with everything he has amassed over the years? Among the thousands of items stolen includes the ONLY remaining full Mayan Codex in existence. He knows he is about to die, and instead of just handing over his treasure to his sons, he makes the decision to hide it all away, and whoever finds it first wins the worlds biggest inheritance. At first none of them seem even interested in making the attempt to find everything, but that slowly changes into an all-out dash to not just find it, but find it first. You see, during the skirmish which happens immediately following the brothers discovery of what their Father has done, a desperate pharmaceutical company finds out about the Codex and makes the fateful decision to try and find it all first in order to save the entire organization from crumbling and the leaders from facing prosecution for a number of major violations. What we have next is quite an adventure. One that will NOT increase your intellect nor make you pause to reflect upon life. No, what you WILL have, however is a story which does exactly as intended: will transport you away from the real world and into a richly detailed and entertaining place which helps us feel as though our money was WELL spent when we purchased the book. Again, not up to par with Preston & Child's better novels, but I CAN say it was better than their most recent release, 'Still Life With Crows'. Maybe you like it less, or agree with me exactly, but either way, chances are if you like these authors together, you will enjoy both of them independently as well. As long as both Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child continue to write, I plan on spending my hard-earned money on what they produce. Neither have let me down. Give The Codex a try, I thought it was a pretty darned good book.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely outstanding...
Review: I've read all of Preston and Child's works. I've liked each and everyone of them. That said, I feel that this solo effort by Mr. Preston is the stand out. It takes the reader on a hair raising adventure, it has an intriguing plot and, one of the rarest things you'll find in any book, an excellent ending. To help put things into perspective, I feel The Codex is a notch or two above The Da Vinci Code (another excellent work).
Rating: 
Summary: Saved from boredom!
Review: After a business meeting ended earlier than expected and not finding any earlier flights out of Dallas, I was facing an eight-hour wait in the airport. I spent some time eating in one of the restaurants there, but after that there wasn't much else to do. Luckily I had this book with me! Time flew by while I was immersed in the story that took me through the jungle in Honduras. Maxwell Broadbent summons his three sons to his house to talk about their inheritance because he is a dying victim of cancer and has a collection of art and jewels worth half a billion dollars. When Phil, Tom and Vernon get there they find no sign of their father or of the valuable collection. What they do find is a video in which Max explains that he has done a bad job as a father and that as a result his kids have no goals other than wait for their inheritance. Therefore, he has sealed himself in a tomb somewhere in the world with his collection and his sons will have to find him if they want their inheritance. This is supposed to teach them independence, the value of work, self-reliance and how to take care of each other. From this point on, a race that involves the brothers, the police officers that were in the house investigating the "theft" and Maxwell's previous partner in treasure hunting. The participants in the quest soon find out that one of the items in the collection is a Mayan Codex that contains the secrets resulting from centuries of experimenting with plants and animals found in the jungle. The value of this work is priceless, especially for pharmaceutical companies, which spend millions in research and development. The situation starts getting more and more dangerous as all these elements come into play and the fast-paced action will grab you and not let go until the end. This story has it almost all, action, suspense, love, dismay, hope, betrayal and even humor! The only weak point I found is that the author was careless in some Spanish expressions he used throughout the book. For example he uses "Veinte cuatros" instead of "Veinticuatros" or "Buenos tardes" instead of "Buenas tardes". Anyway, this is a very minor issue and the book is really great. The reason why I gave the book four stars instead of five is that the story line is not very original. However, if I were you I would not hesitate to give this book a try!
Rating: 
Summary: Formulaic, one-dimensional, no surprises
Review: If you're looking for a formula thriller with one-dimensional characters, no surprises, and a third-grade reading level, go for it. Otherwise, don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Review: Once you get past the premise that 3 brothers would go into the Honduran jungle having NO experience in jungle travel, NO idea where they were really going, and NO idea what exactly they were looking for, the book reads quickly and is pretty decent.
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