Codex 632: the secret identity of Christopher Columbus : a novel

Thomas Noronha, Portuguese history professor and cryptanalyst, receives a call from a shadowy American foundation, and before you can say Da Vinci Code, he's deep into an investigation of the research done by a fellow scholar, recently deceased. Although ostensibly looking into the European discovery of Brazil, the other scholar was on the trail of a mystery related to Christopher Columbus, and Noronha's own pursuit takes him to New York, Brazil, and Jerusalem, decoding clues from kabbalah and the symbology of the Knights Templar. On the personal front, his fling with a beautiful Swedish student causes a rift in his marriage, already stressed by the special needs of his daughter, Margarida. Huge chunks of exposition constitute most of the dialogue in fact, most of the text and when it's revealed, the secret about Columbus' identity doesn't seem worth all the fuss. But readers who enjoy historical puzzles probably won't mind. Codex 632 was originally published in Portugal in 2005.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2008 Booklist

Historian and journalist dos Santos tries his hand at fiction in this ambitious but disappointing tale of mistaken identity. Hired by a foundation to prepare a historical study of the discovery of Brazil, historian Martinho Toscano gets sidetracked by a "five-hundred-year-old conspiracy" regarding Christopher Columbus's identity. When Toscano drops dead, the foundation recruits historian Thomas Noronha, a history professor and cryptologist, to recover Toscano's work (it's written in code). Noronha, who needs cash to pay for his daughter's heart operation, reluctantly accepts the offer of $5,000 a week and a $500,000 bonus. Relying on his code-breaking skills and brushing aside pesky complications-an unlikely affair with a beautiful young Swedish exchange student, his crumbling marriage and his daughter's deteriorating health-Noronha retraces Toscano's footsteps from Rio de Janeiro to Jerusalem to Lisbon in search of the real Columbus. Unfortunately, the narrative rests uneasily on a series of extended tutorials, and the characters are bloodless. The slow unraveling of a conspiracy, while interesting, isn't enough to sustain a narrative lacking action and suspense. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A scholar doggedly pursues the true story behind one of the world's most famous explorers. A television journalist based in Portugal, dos Santos pours his storytelling experience into an intriguing if Byzantine exploration of codes, cultures and Christopher Columbus. Less a Brownian thriller than a speculative one, this debut novel focuses on its flawed protagonist and his dizzying search for the truth. Our sensible leading man, Thomas Noronha, is a professor of history and, naturally, an expert code-breaker, fluent in a handful of modern and ancient languages and possessing an innate ability to unlock complex ciphers. A basically decent guy, he struggles to balance his academic responsibilities with the considerable resources required by a distant wife and a daughter with Down syndrome. It proves a tempting distraction when the evasive Americas History Foundation offers a healthy sum to continue the work of a dead academic investigating the Age of Discovery's most famous personage. The good professor is quickly off to Rio de Janeiro, where he finds an odd note from his predecessor, scribbled in a dead language, that warns of the perils of identity. Noronha makes for a beguiling hero, burdened by his family's needs and tempted into an unwise affair with Lena, a student whose interests prove less than virtuous. Dos Santos layers in all the usual suspects, including the Knights Templar, Jewish mysticism and the Holy Grail, in speculating on the true identity, nationality and motives of Columbus. Readers more intrigued by academic detection than global conspiracies should eat this one up. A fresh-thinking historical thriller buoyed by its hero, a man with a spinning moral compass trying to find his truth North. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Thomas Noronha, Portuguese history professor and cryptanalyst, receives a call from a shadowy American foundation, and before you can say Da Vinci Code, he's deep into an investigation of the research done by a fellow scholar, recently deceased. Although ostensibly looking into the European discovery of Brazil, the other scholar was on the trail of a mystery related to Christopher Columbus, and Noronha's own pursuit takes him to New York, Brazil, and Jerusalem, decoding clues from kabbalah and the symbology of the Knights Templar. On the personal front, his fling with a beautiful Swedish student causes a rift in his marriage, already stressed by the special needs of his daughter, Margarida. Huge chunks of exposition constitute most of the dialogue—in fact, most of the text—and when it's revealed, the secret about Columbus' identity doesn't seem worth all the fuss. But readers who enjoy historical puzzles probably won't mind. Codex 632 was originally published in Portugal in 2005. Copyright 2008 Booklist Reviews.

Historian and journalist dos Santos tries his hand at fiction in this ambitious but disappointing tale of mistaken identity. Hired by a foundation to prepare a historical study of the discovery of Brazil, historian Martinho Toscano gets sidetracked by a "five-hundred-year-old conspiracy" regarding Christopher Columbus's identity. When Toscano drops dead, the foundation recruits historian Thomas Noronha, a history professor and cryptologist, to recover Toscano's work (it's written in code). Noronha, who needs cash to pay for his daughter's heart operation, reluctantly accepts the offer of $5,000 a week and a $500,000 bonus. Relying on his code-breaking skills and brushing aside pesky complications—an unlikely affair with a beautiful young Swedish exchange student, his crumbling marriage and his daughter's deteriorating health—Noronha retraces Toscano's footsteps from Rio de Janeiro to Jerusalem to Lisbon in search of the real Columbus. Unfortunately, the narrative rests uneasily on a series of extended tutorials, and the characters are bloodless. The slow unraveling of a conspiracy, while interesting, isn't enough to sustain a narrative lacking action and suspense. (Apr.)