Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of Panama

Panama
Panama
Author: Eric Zencey
ISBN-13: 9780425156025
ISBN-10: 0425156028
Publication Date: 1/1/1997
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3.1/5 Stars.
 22

3.1 stars, based on 22 ratings
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

13 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

trekie70 avatar reviewed Panama on + 291 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Panama is the first attempt at writing by author Eric Zencey. It has as its background the Panama Canal Scandal that France found itself dealing with at the end of the 19th
Century. The central character is historian Henry Adams, who travels to Paris at the request of then Presidential staff member John Hay. Bit by bit he gets drawn into a web
of bribery and murder, all centered around the collapse of the French Company formed to help build the Panama Canal. While the book is a little slow at the start, it
eventually gets going and was an enjoyable read. There is definitely potential to bring back Adams as the character for a series. I give this book 7 out of 10 stars.
reviewed Panama on + 21 more book reviews
It took a little time to get into this book, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading.
wordyone avatar reviewed Panama on + 112 more book reviews
A mystery set in France. Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.
bea avatar reviewed Panama on + 94 more book reviews
In 1892, Henry Adams, distinguished historian and descendant of two presidents, is in Paris, where he finds himself embroiled in several mysteries: a charming woman attracts him on the beach, then disappears and is, or isn't, killed. Jacques de Reinach, a major figure in the failed French effort to build a Panama canal, dies by suicide or murder. An American senator's wife seems to be trying to change her longstanding relationship with Adams from friendship to something else. A trusted friend is hiding knowledge of a dead woman. Adams is drawn into an intrigue of scandal, bribery, murder, corruption, and sex. He can't resist searching for the missing woman. Along the way he, and we, learn a lot about French politics, the nature of history and experience, love, loss, and forensic science.
reviewed Panama on + 158 more book reviews
Literary thriller.

From the front cover: "It is 1892. A woman vanishes. A corpse is found. Gunshots echo in the Paris streets . . . Blood flows to the Panama Canal . . ."

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
reviewed Panama on + 176 more book reviews
In 1892, Henry Adams, distinguished historian and descendant of two presidents, is in Paris, where he finds himself embroiled in several mysteries: a charming woman attracts him on the beach, then disappears and is, or isn't, killed. Jacques de Reinach, a major figure in the failed French effort to build a Panama canal, dies by suicide or murder. An American senator's wife seems to be trying to change her longstanding relationship with Adams from friendship to something else. A trusted friend is hiding knowledge of a dead woman. Adams is drawn into an intrigue of scandal, bribery, murder, corruption, and sex.
WaterOtter avatar reviewed Panama on + 17 more book reviews
Very Good - Reminiscent of Caleb Carr's The Alienist.
reviewed Panama on + 36 more book reviews
It's not often that we get a historical novel, a mystery story and a psychological study all wrapped up into one book. Great read.
reviewed Panama on + 90 more book reviews
I got this book for my father, who is a real fan of mysteries and thrillers. He said that it is a very good book that he read it twice.
Marjy avatar reviewed Panama on + 34 more book reviews
A fuu-fleged murder mystery with huge fortunes mad and lost, bribery-and it seems- half the French government and the entanglement of a distinguished nineteenth-century American historian... Zencey creates a delicious tension between an educated sensibility and a world where real bullets fly and real blood flows. The result is masterful.
reviewed Panama on + 3 more book reviews
A New York Times Notable Book
reviewed Panama on + 43 more book reviews
Set in Paris, in spite of the book's title, this is a fascinating look at that wonderful city in 1892. An well-done mystery with interesting characters.
reviewed Panama on + 121 more book reviews
Book Description
A national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Panama marks the debut of an impressive literary talent. It is part detective novel, part historical thriller...and it all begins in 1892 when a woman vanishes and a corpse is found. Gunshots echo in the Paris streets. Blood flows to the Panama Canal... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.