Panama

Rating:
Summary: Not The Alienist
Review: When I noticed the critic's reference to Caleb Carr's "The Alienist" on the cover of "Panama", I was filled with anticipation. That's about as exciting as my experience with this novel ever got. "The Alienist" takes the reader on a fast-paced journey filled with thrilling mystery while incorporating numerous complex historical details and characters that become as interesting as the story. "Panama" attempts to tell a story that could be interesting and enthralling, but instead is weighed down by laborious descriptions and details. In addition, the reader is expected to move through the story with an uninteresting main character, a grown man who maintains an immature, junior-high-esque crush on two different women. At the end of the novel, the reader is subjected to an excrutiating scene between one of these women and the main character, as they discuss their relationship over her sleeping husband's hospital bed(as if the six-paragraph description of holding her arm wasn't painful enough!). The book does contain many historical details which an avid history fan may enjoy, but as a thriller, "Panama" fails to offer any thrills except for that of the reader finally getting through it, now able to move on to a more enthralling novel

Rating:
Summary: lavish setting and atmosphere
Review: When I read the book, I thought it only moderately well written and mildly entertaining. A year later, however, I still recall scenes and commentary developed by Zencey. Recommended if you enjoy a richly described period piece and commentary on historical stages in an entertaining, if not completely engrossing, package

Rating:
Summary: Grand idea falls short
Review: Zencey tires his best to create a mood a la Our Man in Havana, but ultimately fails. This book instead trips over itself in just about every chapter until you can't wait to finish just so you don't feel guilty about not finishing