Around the World in 100 Days by Gary L. Blackwood

The Devil to Pay offers you a devil's bargain you cannot refuse.' -Philp Roy, author of the Submarine Outlaw series Yet beneath this lies a mystery that will send chills up the spine of any respectable wordsmith-a secret text discovered in a library, a mysterious code, an ancient story from an exotic locale. 'Blackwood fills the canvas with the psychedelic colors of the sixties: anti-war protests, the draft, Agent Orange, the rise of karate culture, and the sexual objectification of women. ' The Devil to Pay is a sweeping work of historical fiction and a thriller that involves the reader from start to finish.' - Readers' Favorite (5 Star Review) In the process, they learn the secrets the codex contains, and why the Mystery Man is so determined to steal it. Together they struggle to unravel and translate the text, which was penned by a 16th-century Portuguese fortune-hunter. With the help of Gabriela, a Brazilian classmate, Simon finally hits upon the key to the cipher. To add to his problems, an unidentified rival he calls the Mystery Man is desperate to get his hands on the codex-so desperate that he ransacks Simon's apartment and even drugs and interrogates him and his advisor.

But first he has to decipher it-and, as he soon learns, that's going to be a formidable task. Simon, who's been fascinated by codes and ciphers since he was a kid, convinces his advisor to let him use the mysterious codex as his thesis topic. until he stumbles upon an encrypted renaissance journal that's been hidden for decades in the rare book room. He's not overly excited about his thesis. As the conflict in Vietnam heats up, Simon Hannay is pursuing his Masters in Comparative Literature at a Midwest university, teaching karate on the side and doing his best to avoid the draft.

Around the World in 100 Days by Gary L. Blackwood