Preston, Douglas: The Codex

Elsewhere in this blog is a review of one of this author's collaborations with Lincoln Child (as well as a review of one of the
latter's books) but this is the first solo effort I have read. There is no great difference in the style of this book from that of the collaborations with both requiring some suspension of disbelief as, come to think of it, do many adventure cum thriller
novels. A simple story - father calls his sons to the family mansion but he is gone as are the multi-million dollar works of
art and relics which he has taken back to the Mayan ruins of Honduras to be buried with him as he has but a few months to
live. The three react differently with the lead brother initially deciding to forget about it. He is persuaded otherwise by a
beautiful blonde ethnopharmacologist who talks him into going to find 'The Codex' which is a herbal dictionary of the many
plants used by the Mayans. One brother has teamed up with the man who had been his father's partner when he first went
to Honduras though they fell out there: this is the villain of the piece. Although going their own way, the three brothers do
eventually link up with a fourth brother who is part native Honduran. One has to accept the varied skills of the girl and the
main brother and the out and out villainy of the bad guy as well as the coincidences that bring them all together and lead to
the denouement. Well-written and equal to the collaborative works of which more as time goes by.