The Codicil: A Novel (Paperback)

by Tom Topor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Topor's thriller concerns a deceased multimillionaire who has willed half his estate to the secret child he'd fathered in Vietnam.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Matthew Marshall, founder of a telecommunications empire, had it all-a beautiful wife and children, houses in Corfu, Telluride, and Antigua-and appears to have been it all-war hero, self-made man, and generous donor to charity. However, his untimely death and a strange codicil added to his will a few weeks before his death stipulating that half of his estate go to an unknown daughter cast doubt on much of his life. Adam Bruno, an erstwhile lawyer who is investigating the existence of the daughter, discovers that Marshall commanded great loyalty from those who knew him but revealed little of himself in return. The only clues lie in a remote cabin in upstate New York that serves as a memorial to Marshall's experiences in the Vietnam War. Topor (Coda, LJ 11/1/84) deftly creates a cast of complex characters in this compelling suspense yarn. For most popular collections.
Cynthia Johnson, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 564 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; Reprint edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786889063
• ISBN-13: 978-0786889068
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,670,935 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A suspenseful hunt for a secret child, May 31, 2004

By	Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Codicil (Hardcover)

Topor's legal thriller has a straightforward plot that never loses its momentum.

With virtually nothing to go on, and $50 million at stake, lawyer-turned-investigator Adam Bruno is hired to find the Vietnamese child of a former American captain.

The former soldier, Matthew Marshall, returned home to become a telecommunications tycoon worth $100 million. Nothing was known of any illegitimate child until the codicil to his will, made recently and unknown to the partners of his heavy-hitting law firm, comes to light when Marshall dies suddenly of a stroke at his country retreat. The codicil, devastating to Marshall's widow and three spoiled children, provides that the original bequests stand if the Vietnamese child can be proved dead or back in Vietnam.

Marshall, a man of vast charm and many women, led a compartmentalized life - his home, the cabin where he went to be solitary, and the secret but long-term New York apartment where he brought his various women. None of his friends or his family recall any mention of his Vietnam experiences, though he did take his children to the Wall in Washington.

But, visiting Marshall's country retreat, off-limits to family and friends, Bruno encounters a dangerously crazy Vietnam vet, bristling with weapons and paranoia, who guards Marshall's empty home. And Bruno finds a room dedicated to photos and memorabilia of Vietnam. The people in the photographs are identified only by nicknames and as Bruno begins the painstaking process of identification, most of them seem to be dead. Those still living insist Marshall, upright and married, would never have had anything to do with a Vietnamese woman.

Running into one stone wall after another, Bruno's case gets a sudden shot of adrenaline when he receives, anonymously, a letter in Vietnamese, written to Marshall by a Vietnamese man who clearly was searching for the missing woman and child.

Slowly, doggedly, Bruno pieces together a dark and painful story, crisscrossing the country by jet and computer. Despite setbacks, false trails and dangerous developments, he digs through layers of lies and complex connections. And, naturally, the family back in New York would like to see him fail and will stop at nothing - perhaps not even homicide - to preserve their inheritance and the power they've come to think is theirs by right.

While there's nothing particularly original about the story, Topor's straightforward style suits his narrator protagonist - a resourceful, clever, determined fellow, a loner with very individual but firm scruples. Bruno is likable and only ruthless when nothing less will satisfy. A page turner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHOCKS, SHIVERS, AND A SATISFYING CONCLUSION, May 1, 2004

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

If you begin this rapid fire thriller in the evening, be prepared to stay up late. Screenwriter Topor has woven a realistic package of twists and surprises that is hard to put down.

When wealthy Matthew Marshall dies, the heirs to his $100 million dollar estate, his wife and three children, find that a codicil has been added to his will. Marshall is bequeathing half his estate to a child they never knew existed, a child he fathered in Vietnam. During his last visit to Vietnam, Marshall had tried without success to find Cricket, the child's mother.

Savvy, street smart private detective Alan Bruno is hired by the estate's attorney to find the child. As he begins to discover Marshall's life over the past 30 years and his Vietnamese connection, Bruno is stymied with each new lead. He is aided in his search by a Puerto Rican-Vietnamese interpreter, who finds more information in old letters than words would indicate.

Suspense builds as the plot escalates. After a stunning parade of shocks and shivers, Topor skillfully ochestrates a satisfying conclusion.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the book kept my interest throughout, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

As a practicing Attorney, I found the book well done. The main character Adam Brono was very believable, but his background was a great deal more developed than mine, and I have ben handling probate cases for 48-50 years. I was sorry to see the book end, because by then I had established a great relationship with all the characters.