The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir

Written by Roman Dial

Narrated by Fred Sanders

""A brave and marvelous book. A page-turner that will rip your heart out.""—Jon Krakauer

In the tradition of Into the Wild comes an instant classic of outdoor literature, a riveting work of uncommon depth. I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle. . . . It should be difficult to get lost forever: These were the haunting last words legendary adventurer Roman Dial received from his son, before the 27-year old disappeared into the jungles of Costa Rica. This is Dial's intensely gripping and deeply moving account of his two-year quest to unravel the mystery of his son's fate.

In the predawn hours of July 10, 2014, twenty-seven-year-old Cody Roman Dial, the son of preeminent Alaskan scientist and National Geographic Explorer Roman Dial, walked alone into Corcovado National Park, an untracked rainforest along Costa Rica’s remote Pacific Coast that shelters miners, poachers, and drug smugglers. He carried a light backpack and machete. Before he left, he emailed his father: ""I am not sure how long it will take me, but I’m planning on doing 4 days in the jungle and a day to walk out. I’ll be bounded by a trail to the west and the coast everywhere else, so it should be difficult to get lost forever.""

They were the last words Dial received from his son.

The Adventurer’s Son recreates the author’s two-year quest to learn the truth about his child’s disappearance. Immediately after Cody Roman’s planned departure date passed without a word from him, Dial set off for Costa Rica. As he trekked through the dense jungle, interviewing locals and searching for clues—the authorities suspected murder—the desperate father was forced to confront the deepest questions about his own life. Roman had raised his son to be fearless, to seek out adventure amid earth’s wildest places. Was he ultimately responsible for his son’s fate?

A harrowing story of drama, adventure, and a father’s love for his son, set in the most beautiful and dangerous reaches of the planet, The Adventurer’s Son is a mystery, the memoir of a father and his son, and an unforgettable story of love and profound loss.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Feb 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9780062876638

Roman Dial

Once called America’s most imaginative adventurer, Roman Dial is a pioneering outdoorsman based in Alaska, where he's made full-length traverses by foot, ski, pedal, and paddle of the Brooks and Alaska Ranges. He is a professor of mathematics and biology at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. The Adventurer’s Son—a best-selling memoir about the two-year search for his missing son—is published by William Morrow (2020).

Reviews for The Adventurer's Son

[Carol Kubala · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Roman Cody Dial - This is a name that I'll always remember. This is a book that will stay with me, one that I will look back on over the years. It will be placed on my favorite read shelf in my mind. It is one of those books that is very personal to the reader. Many things resonated with me. I've lost an adult child, I've visited some of the places Father, Roman and Son, Roman, did. I respect nature yet and love viewing it in the wild, yet I have not hiked, trekked, studied, or adventure traveled, with the adventuresome spirit of this family.

The Adventurer's Son is at its heart a memoir of two lives and the strong bond of these two men. When Roman Cody Dial disappears on a solo hiking trip in the jungles of Costa Rica, his father will not rest until he learns his son's fate.

[dandiercks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of adventurer Roman Dial and his life with wife Peggy and children Jazz and Cody Roman. Ultimately this became a story of search for his son and loss. The details about the places the family traveled is admirable and entertaining, although sometimes more than the casual reader needs. Nonetheless, “Adventurer’s Son: a Memoir” is a story that will appeal to a wide audience. It’s a story not only of adventure but of family, love, loyalty, and loss. I enjoyed reading it and thank Roman Dial for writing it and sharing it with me and thousands of other readers.

[castlelass · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Biologist, explorer, and adventurer Roman Dial’s memoir of his search for his son, Cody Roman, age 27, who went missing in the jungles of Costa Rica in 2014. Cody Roman had embarked on a solo trek through Central America, checking in with his dad via email. He had planned to go off trail through the Corcovado rain forest without a (required) guide. When Roman had not heard from his son, he traveled to Costa Rica to find Cody.*

Roman encountered uncooperative officials and stories that his son accompanied a local guide thought to be involved with drugs. The book covers the search, Cody’s youthful experiences growing up in Alaska, and past family trips to exotic locations. It takes readers into remote Costa Rica and the world of drug smugglers and illegal miners, as well as good-hearted locals who tried to help.

Roman and his wife consulted private investigators, investigated tips from psychics, and engaged a “documentary” producer. While the television cameras helped focus attention on the case, they also warped the story into a sensational reality-TV murder mystery. It is a story of frustration and parents doing everything possible to find a missing child.

This book is the story of a family’s crisis. It also portrays their appreciation for the natural world. Roman is candid in this account, admitting to doubts, faults, and feelings of guilt. I had not seen any of the media coverage, so the content was new to me. I found it riveting, moving, and tragic.

*Cody preferred to be called by his middle name, Roman. I am referring to him as Cody just to distinguish him from his father, also called Roman.

[iudita_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was quite a story and my heart goes out to the family, but it was very hard not to pass judgement on someone who willingly put themselves into very grave danger. I was angry and annoyed for a dozen different reasons while I read this.

[dcoward_6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Roman Dial's son travelled frequently with his father while growing up. He goes solo trekking for months in his late 20s and then goes missing in a dangerous area. I'm honestly not sure how I felt about this book. While it is a sad story, it seems like Cody "Roman" Dial was deliberately putting himself in dangerous situations.

[breic-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't love this book. To me, it feels a bit exploitative to write a book about your dead son. I somehow wasn't at all surprised when I learned that he had teamed up to make a sensationalistic TV "documentary" about it, too. Dial claims to have been completely naive about the junk show they ended up making, but really, it's hard to believe. On the one hand, we learn a lot about this father's attachment to his son. But on the other hand, the fact that the son bore all the responsibility for his own death meant that Dial didn't have to dig too deeply into his own self. He makes a few superficial remarks about being responsible for raising a son who made these mistakes, but they didn't feel very serious to me. I don't know what he learned from the experience, apparently not anything about the selfishness of an adventure lifestyle. Maybe Tennyson's "'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all" applies equally well. I was also bothered that he posted signs of a $50,000 reward, but then only paid $5000. There's not a lot going on, but Dial tracks it in excruciating detail. For all that, it is well written and quite readable. Dial says that he had always wanted to write a memoir, and he is clearly capable. Maybe my problem is just with the book's premise. > A highlight was a night spent one hundred and eighty feet up in a fruiting dipterocarp, my hammock suspended over a crow's-nest-like orchid epiphyte encircling the trunk and fully ten feet across with dozens of hand-sized blossoms pollinated by thumb-sized bumblebees. That night, dew fell but no rain. At dawn, the rising sun melted away diaphanous mist clinging to rainforest giants. Awakened by the lion-like roar of a big male orangutan, I knew that Peggy and the kids had to experience Borneo.> I wrote one email, then another, and another—several. They all said, No, don't do it! or, Do this, it's safer. Each one I deleted, struggling to warn but not discourage him.> I got a gun. I keep it loaded right there with me. And to top it all off, I let my ex live with me. Otherwise the criminals will just come and take everything. I'm trapped. Cody's disappearance is part of this," she concluded. "This inbred, lawless, uneducated, unscrupulous backwater of a place."> Missing Dial had everyone's attention and it hadn't even been produced. The officials probably feared how their actions—or inaction—would look on TV when the show finally aired. Carson and Ken, it seemed, got more people talking in a month than OIJ or the FBI had in a year.> I had a big wad of $5,000 in American bills to give to the miner who had discovered Roman's remains. The $50,000 offer was only a ruse to get Pata Lora to talk. We had no intention to pay that sum.> Roman and I were so close. Paddling alone in a wilderness he would have loved, I discovered that I was slowly learning to live with this chronic injury set deep in my soul. As I paddled farther into the Arctic, thoughts of him invaded every crevice of my life. They still do, where they germinate and grow like dropped seeds.

[formerenglishteacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story of adventurer Roman Dial and his life with wife Peggy and children Jazz and Cody Roman. Ultimately this became a story of search for his son and loss. The details about the places the family traveled is admirable and entertaining, although sometimes more than the casual reader needs. Nonetheless, “Adventurer’s Son: a Memoir” is a story that will appeal to a wide audience. It’s a story not only of adventure but of family, love, loyalty, and loss. I enjoyed reading it and thank Roman Dial for writing it and sharing it with me and thousands of other readers.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a parent raising five sons, I often wondered how to find the balance for the adventurous things they wanted to do and the safety that for myself was paramount. It was definitely a struggle. The author of this book, was a keen adventurer himself and when he married and had a son, he combined his love of adventure with the love of his family. They took amazing trips in sometimes risky countries. Did many things together that I would never even attempt. So it is understandable how his son craved the same lifestyle. When he is 27, he goes missing in the Costa Rica jungle, and his parents will spend years trying to find out what happened to their son.In February, 4 of my children were in Costa Rica, now grown and making decisions for themselves. I am so glad I did not read this book before they went. This is a book about a search, a quest and us a heartbreaking one. There are beautiful descriptions of the natural world in all its elements. It is an honest account of a parents fear and grief. A parents doubts about doing the right thing, questioning whether if or how much he, himself was at fault.A good book and a harrowing one. ARC from Edelweiss.

[renbedell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The true story of a father's search for his missing son when he goes missing while trekking through Central America. The story is thrilling and heart-wrenching. The endless steps the family went through on their hunt is amazing and inspiring. The writing though, is not very good. The beginning is all over the place and second half is very repetitious. The author (the father) just writes the information down, which makes it feel more real, but also more passive. Overall I enjoyed the book and glad that I read it.