The Flanders Panel ( 1st/1st ~ American Edition ) [Hardcover]

Arturo Perez Reverte (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company; First Edition edition (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002712946
• ISBN-13: 978-0002712941
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (155 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strategy and Suspense, July 29, 2001

By 

Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Flanders Panel (Paperback)

I'm a chessplayer. The theme of this book caught my attention and, in many ways, lived up to its promise. The chess and real life dramas are woven smoothly, and the chess strategy and reasoning made sense (with one or two moments of artistic license). The opening intrigued me, the middle game complicated matters, and the endgame brought things to a tidy conclusion.

I couldn't help but wonder if I was missing some of the writer's heart in the translation. The characters are expertly crafted, but lacked heart and connection with me. Although I enjoyed the moves of the deadly game, I had little feeling for those that give their lives in the course of the chess maneuvering. The language, while tight and European-sounding, seemed to be a bit generic at points.

Overall, the threads of the mystery draw tighter and tighter and the author leaves a few surprises for the reader. Some may find intrigue in the chess aspects or the art aspects...I found myself primarly drawn into the strategizing of the villain and those trying to unmask the villain's identity. The suspense was based on the unfolding strategy, such as in a game of chess. And I was captured. Check and mate.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read: not quite Eco, but that's not a bad thing., July 26, 2000

By 

Ivan Askwith (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flanders Panel (Paperback)

I've read most of Perez-Reverte's texts, and "The Flanders Panel" -- his debut -- is vintage material. Often compared to the work of Italian intellectualist-author Umberto Eco, Perez-Reverte engages new themes and topics in each work, delving into them with a passion and interest that I can't help but find impressive -- in each case, the details are sufficient to let the characters pass for experts, but not overwhelming or boring.

In TFP, the topics du jour are art restoration, historical intrigues, and chess, and the three blend together to create a sinister and satisfying thriller -- I took this one down in about four hours, while on vacation at the beach, and was hooked as soon as the real action started. (Give it about 20-25 pages before you put it down the first time.)

Using the process of a chess game to drive the action of the book, Perez-Reverte manages to make an often-dull game vibrant, exciting, and threatening. I'm a chess fan, myself, but you don't have to be to get into, wrapped up in, or to the end of this book. Diagrams are included to show each move in the "game" that unfolds, and the action on the board is mirrored in real life -- a sinister murder for each piece captured on the table. The characters are believable and well-written, and P-R's prose, as usual, flows well and feels good going down.

If anything disappoints, it might be the ending. Like "The Club Dumas", another fantastic intelli-thriller, the ending feels a bit rushed, and less complete than you're led to expect... it IS plausible, and it ISN'T obvious, and that's enough to make it passable. A rushed ending, however, does not kill a good read, and that, in the end, is what TFP is: a nice, quick, engaging and intellectual thriller, and a nice debut for a promising author. If the comparisons to Eco are inaccurate, it is because Eco tends to give excessive thought and explanation to each theme in his novels, while Perez gives you just enough background info to get you excited, and then runs with it.

BOTTOM LINE: A good strong intellectual thriller for those who find Mary Higgins Clark and her kind just a bit too formulaic. Perez-Reverte scores.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and Intriguing Mystery, December 3, 1999

By 

Karen Bierman Hirsh (Greenwich, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Flanders Panel (Paperback)

Arturo Perez-Reverte is an amazing writer, truly gifted not only in the art of spinning a creative and sophisticated mystery but also in jumping the cultural and historical boundaries.

This book (as is The Club Dumas) is a bibliomystery fan's dream come true. Julia, a woman who restores paintings for a living, is asked to help restore a fifteenth-century masterpiece, the painting depicts a chess game between the Duke of Flanders and his knight - but within it is a hidden message - Who Killed The Knight and thus the novel begins.

This book is filled to the brim with fascinating information about art, history and chess. If you liked this book you should run out and get The Eight by Katherine Neville- is another stunner!