Books by author: Lev Grossman

Codex is a lightweight literary thriller, quite a bit better than The Rule of Four, not as erudite or well-written as The Club Dumas, The Flanders Panel, The Grand Complication or A Case of Curiosities, and not quite the page-turner of The Da Vinci Code or Angels & Demons.

Grossman's novel centers on Edward, who is on a brief hiatus between jobs as he prepares to move to England. During what is supposed to be a vacation, he is drawn in to a search for an old document (the titular codex), and also into an addictive computer game. Grossman awkwardly sprinkles computer-jargon in his descriptive metaphors (e.g., "psychic RAM"), and those passages detract from what is otherwise decent workmanlike prose. The plot is fast-moving, and the conclusion is reasonably satisfying. This is decent escapist pulp for those of us who enjoy the kinds of books I listed above.