By: Manuella Soares
Hey all and welcome back to another Friday here at Functionally Fictional! This week I wanted to continue with a Friday Firsts post, as I’m digging it. For those who don’t know, Friday Firsts was created by Tenacious Reader and is used to spotlight the first few sentences/paragraphs of your current read and your first impressions. It’s meant to be a quick and easy way to share a bit about what people are reading.
Like many readers, I have a massive TBR list, and for my physical books, I have a TBR jar, which is just a pretty jar that I have on my bookshelf with all of the unread titles of my physical books written down on colorful pieces of paper and folded up inside. I use the jar when I’m not sure what to read and want to read one of the numerous books on my shelves. So, with that tidbit of information, I thought that doing more Friday Firsts would be a good way to read more of my TBR books. It also doesn’t hurt that I barely even remember what books I have, so it’ll be a (hopefully) nice surprise and good for a first impression.
For this week, the jar has produced: The Codex by Douglas Preston.
“Tom Broadbent turned the last corner of the winding drive and found his two brothers already waiting at the great iron gates of the Broadbent compound. Philip, irritated, was knocking the dottle out of his pipe on one of the gateposts while Vernon gave the buzzer a couple of vigorous presses. The house stood beyond them, silent and dark, rising from the top of the hill like some pasha’s palace, its clerestories, chimneys, and towers glided in the rich afternoon light of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“It’s not like father to be late,” said Philip. He slipped the pipe between his white teeth and closed down on the stem with a little click. He gave the buzzer a stab of his own, checked his watch, shot his cuff. Philip looked pretty much the same, Tom thought: briar pipe, sardonic eye, cheeks well shaved and after-shaved, hair brushed straight back from a tall brow, gold watch winking at the wrist, dressed in gray worsted slacks and navy jacket. His English accent seemed to have gotten a shade plummier. Vernon, on the other hand, in his gaucho pants, sandals, long hair, and beard, looked uncannily like Jesus Christ.”
First Impressions:
So, the first two paragraphs of this one aren’t bad; they’ve got some nice visuals and potentially start to set the scene for the upcoming mystery by stating that it’s odd the father is late. From this and the book summary, it’s definitely a mystery novel with heavy archaeological themes–similar to an Indiana Jones type of story. Hopefully, once I get into this, it turns out well and I enjoy it. Books like these are hit and miss sometimes for me because, though I love archaeological mysteries, they don’t always resonate with me and leave me wanting. The first couple paragraphs/pages of a book are usually what hooks readers, and while these paragraphs are very visual, I hope that if this is a slow start book, it picks up quickly and stays engaging rather than one that takes forever to pick up speed; those books always kill me because it’s hard to stay engaged with the story.
What are your first impressions of this book?
Functionally Fictional 
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