Excitement pulsates from the very first page of this eagerly awaited follow-up to the international and New York Times bestseller The Atlantis Code, though it does somewhat fizzle out towards the end. Given Charles Brokaw’s background as a scholar and an academic who has traveled widely, it comes as no surprise that the setting of his latest thriller is one of the most international of all cosmopolitan cities in the world—Istanbul, nor that the lead protagonist is an academic—Dr. Thomas Lourds, the world’s foremost expert on linguistics and a Harvard professor. Given that Brokaw is also an expert on aviation, international politics, and advanced weaponry, it also comes with the territory that The Lucifer Code is filled with international (and intercultural) intrigue, and has several dynamic scenes of interpersonal combat and violence.

Brokaw knows how to get the adrenalin pumping. He clearly knows and understands his audience, and does his utmost best to appeal to their yearning for adventure and eroticism, though the latter is kept within the bounds of decency at all times. And that, perhaps, is where some of the disappointment creeps in—either you have a full-blooded, gung ho, no-holds-barred tale, or one that appeals to the more intellectual concerns of your audience. It is extremely difficult to find a balance between the two. And, yes, sometimes authors do manage to get the blend right, but more often than not, they don’t. Unfortunately, where The Atlantis Code succeeded, in a most remarkable fashion, The Lucifer Code does not, leading many critics to give it up as a bad job.

Chief criticisms that have been leveled against The Lucifer Code are that it just has too many characters and an oversupply of red herrings. Also that the ending is somewhat glib, with the final punch line amounting to just that—a single sentence. However, what is in its favor is that it appears very much to be a forerunner to a movie, and one can easily imagine the chief protagonists, both male and female, in combat on the large screen (or on the smaller one, for that matter). But what might appear to be unnecessarily obfuscating to us mere mortals might be anything but for a learned author of international repute, such as Charles Brokaw. So why not give it a try and see what you think? That it is a novel that is subject to much contention is blatantly obvious, so get a head start on those of your friends who haven’t yet read The Lucifer Code, grab yourself a copy, and be prepared to be intrigued—at least for the first half of the book.