Back to the Jungle!

Douglas Preston is half of the thriller-writing team of “Preston and Child,” and is more prolific than partner Lincoln Child. Preston is currently touring the country promoting Blasphemy, his latest solo work set in the American southwest. Can’t wait for the paperback? Try on The Codex, the author’s latest.

Preston has a rollicking story set in the jungles of Honduras that could be the twin brother of Amazonia by James Rollins, although his smattering of misspelled Spanish is proof that Preston is more comfortable in the Tex-Mex American Southwest. Among other errors, buenos tardes (good afternoon) is actually spelled with an A, as in buenas. No big deal. Good afternaan. (It is a little off-putting misspelled in English, isn’t it?)

Eccentric billionaire Max Broadbent has a fatal illness and has traveled to the jungle to die, but wants to take his treasure with him. He does leave his three sons the option to come and get it – if they want it. Not surprisingly, they do. Somewhat surprisingly, the codex of the title is an ancient key to all the pharmaceutical uses of rainforest plants, the same mission undertaken in Amazonia. Both books feature the attractive female, the strong straight-shooter, the evil maniac who wants to derail the whole mission for personal gain. Jungle dangers. Snakes.

Fans will have no problem ignoring some of the implausible elements, since Preston opens the throttle on his jungle chase and keeps up the pace throughout – never taking the ride too seriously and even tossing in some well-placed humor as the three sons set out to retrieve their inheritance.

There are books that are worth laboring through to the end, and then there are those like The Codex in which the end seems to come along altogether too quickly. It’s un libro bueno. (One good book!)