The Panama Affair [Paperback]

Barry Evetts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2000

Lucinda Leung, a Chinese born American journalist has been covering the civil war in Colombia. Her marriage is in tatters, her future career prospects questionable. She is reassigned to a politically unstable Panama. And into Panama too come Mohan Krishnaswami, the man responsible for her fathers death many years before. So does Peter Morrison, a recently redundant employee of Mohan, drawn to help a relative, with a son on the run from twisted justice. While the almost bankrupt Mohan is drawn into a web of dubious business schemes, assisting a Colombian drug baroness and her hideous playboy son with designs on removing the president of Panama, Lucinda uncovers an even more dangerous plot to further destabilize the entire region. Tension builds, while we move from Bogota to London, and back in time to 1987 Hong Kong and Guangzhou: Then in a whirlwind of entwined events to Houston, Panama, Miami, North Korea, the Colombian Andes, and the Caribbean. And the prizes? For some, if they succeed, the riches that may flow from the devastation of the Panama Canal. For Lucinda, a distant vengeance for her fathers death and, perhaps, fulfillment in love.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barry Evetts forsook the idyllic, insular charms of 1960's New Zealand for a 30-year career in international shipping, in a variety of fast paced and sometimes exotic locations. These include London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Panama, Bogota, and Caracas. When not working abroad he currently lives in North Devon, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (March 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595001769
• ISBN-13: 978-0595001767
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,447,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious debut!, December 14, 2000

By 

Wicked Company (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Panama Affair (Paperback)

Chinese-American journalist Lucinda Leung has been too busy covering the world's hot spots to notice that her marriage is failing and her career is on the line.

Proving herself is paramount to Lucinda, whose father was executed for "economic sabotage" in Communist China. Leung paid the ultimate price to buy his daughter's freedom. And now Lucinda is paying the price as well.

After witnessing an audacious hit on DEA agents by Columbian drug barons, Lucinda is reassigned to politically unstable Panama where she meets Peter Morrison, a footloose shipping broker investigating the arrest and disappearance of a distant cousin.

It's instant simpatico between the headstrong Lucinda and Peter, and she agrees to help him by using her influence with the guerilla leader El Lobo. A choice that may cost her her life--or Peter's.

But THE PANAMA AFFAIR is more than the story of Lucinda Leung.

Evetts fills his canvas with a palette of colorful characters: Dona Olga Vasquez, head of the Popayan Drug Cartel; Mohan Krishnaswami, whose past is inextricably linked to Lucinda's; Kirsten Gustaffsen, ice princess and financial pirate; Tom Mcarthur, a shipping agent with CIA ties.

These diverse characters are caught up in a complex tale of political and industrial espionage.

THE PANAMA AFFAIR is a meaty and ambitious thriller spanning years and continents. Evetts has poured considerable research and experience into this inventive first novel.

For something completely different in the way of espionage and intrigue-a travelogue into hell-I recommend THE PANAMA AFFAIR .

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intrigue That Entertains, November 18, 2000

By 

G. Miki Hayden, Writing the Mystery, Intrigue... (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Panama Affair (Paperback)

The action begins in a bar in Bogota, Colombia, where American journalist Lucinda Leung has been invited to join the pub owner for a drink. Into that cozy setting, enter some friendly agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency--and behind them, revolutionaries firing guns. Thus begins a saga that tours three continents and crisscrosses numerous national borders. At the center of all this drama is Leung, as well as a nearly bankrupt and corrupt shipping executive Mohan Krishnaswami, who had been involved in dirty dealings with Leung's father many years before.

Although the intrigue swirls through London, South America, Asia, and the Caribbean, the pivot of the drug and political intrigues that Leung stumbles upon is the Panama Canal, a strategic military and economic linchpin of the entire Latin American domain.

Evetts has suited his tone and pacing to the novel's structure. Although Lucinda Leung, a hard-edged intellectual whose marriage is running down the tubes, is the nucleus of the story, multiple shifts in viewpoint add solidity and depth to a skillfully told tale. After 30 years spent in most of his novel's locales and in the shipping industry, Evetts knows a lot about exotic political, cultural, and business matters--everywhere. Thank goodness for a story intended for adults, refreshing in a mystery/thriller market littered with little old ladies who solve the odd murder.

The interweaving of characters, past and present deeds and misdeeds, and motives of revenge, greed, lust, and desperation bring vivid reality to this compelling entertainment. By rights, Evetts' fine saga should have been published by Simon & Schuster. Instead, the book is out from Writer's Showcase, well-produced and well-edited. Hopefully, The Panama Affair is only an introduction to this author's work. Anyone who enjoyed the spy stories that emerged from the Cold War will relish this piece of New World Order double dealings.

4.0 out of 5 stars A terrific read!, January 3, 2001

By 

Lesley Anne Whitfield (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Panama Affair (Paperback)

The action begins on the first page and keeps up the momentum until the final page. The characters come alive, and the author's descriptions of people and places, enable the reader to almost be there. I loved the heroine, very much a woman of our times, and I must confess to a sneaking liking of 'Mohan' (one of those involved in shady dealings). I hope that the author will write a follow up to the Panama Affair as I would love to know what happened to him! This book would make a great film!