Rating: 
Summary: Great Book..as expected
Review: I have read quite a few titles from this author as well as from his collaborations with L.Child. The idea of this novel was rather original. The characters were well drawn and I really liked the central villian as well. Three brothers heading into the jungle in search of their Father's fortune. As always the journey is the best part. There is a little bit of everything in this book, keeps you turning pages which to me is the MOST important part of a good book.
Rating:
Summary: the elusive Codex...
Review: I just finished listening to the UNabridged audio (CD) version. Books on CD are a "must try" if you haven't. In the car, while working on the computer, OR you can even listen in bed (or Lazyboy) on a DVD player and then click off if you get sleepy.
The premise of "the Codex" couldn't be better; how far will a family go for an inheritance? Some of the reviewers are too harsh. Yes, there are some slow places when the jungle adventure begins and perhaps the writing is a bit cliche at times, but the story is great and the adventure is worth taking.
(WARNING: next para reveals info.) I'm with another reviewer, tho, who asks what the heck happened to the Codex?? There was never a resolution to the bridge incident. That is a rather serious flaw, in my opinion. But, the end is fun -- look who ends up back in Santa Fe. Since I'm from NM, all of that was enjoyable.
It's definitely worth a LISTEN or read. Great fun!
Rating:
Summary: ENJOYABLE
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars
Review: I love tales of adventure, especially when it involves the jungle and tales of the Mayans. This one was very entertaining but it doesn't add much when it comes to originality. You get your typical dangers such as piranhas, anacondas and jaguars. The characters are original and likeable (I especially liked the humorous dialogue between Don Alfonso and Sally), which helped the story. I still recommend this highly and think it's one entertaining story. Highly recommended.
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: mildly entertaining, but still disappointing
Review: I really like Preston's collaborations with Lincoln Child. Their stories are relatively original and have an intriguing blend of history and the supernatural. However, it seems whenever these authors venture out on their own, the result is lackluster at best. Lincoln Child's solo work titled "Utopia" was also very disappointing to me. In this effort, Preston fails to constuct an original or entertaining plot and then compounds this misstep with shallow characters and clumsy dialog. This is a typical jungle treasure hunt story with greedy a CEO, a sadistic mercenary, hapless (and greedy) sons competing with each other, wise old jungle native, and of course the [attractive] female scientist/horse rider/marksman. This story lacks the spark of the supernatural, the historical intrigue, and the polish of the Preston/Child collaborations and sadly fails to rise above the noise level of other similar stories by people like James Patterson. I would try hard to avoid this book and wait for the next effort by Preston and Child.
Rating:
Summary: another great read
Review: I was a little leary of this book at first. i love preston and child's books...and I recently read Utopia by lincoln child and I was a little disappointed. So I was worried that this being only one half of the team would give the book the same fate as utopia.. not so! from start to finish the book sucked me in with an interesting situation, great characters and a very vivid setting.. if you've read any james rollins books (subteranean, amazonia) and liked them, this book will be right up your alley.
Rating:
Summary: Surprise, Surprise and more surprises.....
Review: I wasn't sure I could get into this book after reading the description but once started I was hooked. This book enabled me to feel as though I were experiencing what was happening in the book. Every time something happened which made you think "this is it, they're all going to die" you were surprised to read no one died. I kept thinking if it were me I would have been dead especially when the ticonderoga got one of the brothers in the river. I actually felt like I was drowning! I like to read for entertainment as well as education and I found this book to be very entertaining. I think Mr. Preston did an excellent job.
Rating:
Summary: Reads like a movie script but it's still fun!
Review: I'll have to agree with many of the reviewers that the writing isn't spectacular but the story line is still fun! This is an easy to read book and makes for the perfect type of read for a plane ride or vacation! I hope they make this into a movie -- it was great fun!
Rating: 
Summary: Preston's Bungle in the Jungle
Review: I'm a big Preston/Childs fan. But after successive reads of Lincoln Child's "Utopia", and Douglas Preston's "The Codex", it's becoming clear that these two do much better as a team than when going solo. While "Utopia" had its moments (and even gets a cameo in "Codex"!), Preston's implausible "Codex" falls short on virtually all counts. In a nutshell, "Codex" is the story of an eccentric father, who, dying of cancer, decides to bury with him a fortune in rare art he has collected over a lifetime. The catch is that his choice of a burial spot in his secret, leaving it to his three insufferable sons to locate and claim their inheritance. It goes downhill from there. The brothers are chronically whining about the injustice of "father's" scheme, while reminding the reader every page or so what a rotten childhood they had. About the time this banal sibling chatter becomes unbearable, Preston subjects the reader to a steady stream pidgin English from one of the natives in the jungle in which the boys inevitably end up ("Thankee, brother. We talkee later". I'm not making this up). Preston throws in the standard love interest - blond, brainy, handy with a horse and rifle, and initially while hard to get, there are no surprises to where this "Laura Croft" will end up. Stashed away with "father's" treasure is the lost Mayan Codex, the document that will unlock the mysteries behind all diseases human. Right. So while the boys and girl are running around the Central American jungles looking for the lost tomb and its Codex, the stereotypical evil CEO - in the case from a pharmaceutical giant - has his even more evil henchman chasing them through the swamps. In summary, a silly plot, cardboard characters that still manage to annoy, and lame dialogue, and a predictable ending add up to a pretty disappointing read. Skip this one, and save your time and money for (hopefully) a rebound when Preston and Childs team up again for this summer's "Brimstone".
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