Book Review: The Expansion by Christoph Martin

“A non-natural disaster is never an isolated event. It is the result of a long story: a series of bad decisions leading up to that point. Each and every decision matters. Each and every moment.”

This was a surprising story – it went in more directions than I anticipated, it taught me a handful of things and led me to do follow-up research on a handful more, and it twisted and turned in ways that I found delightfully engaging. I must admit, I did not know much about the Panama Canal going into this one. I knew the basics – that its development was full of tragedy and drama, that it changed the nature of sea travel, that the US played a major role then surprised many by willingly stepping back – but somehow missed the whole expansion thing (I know, I know – lame, but true). I was fascinated by the tidbits of history the book provided, so much so that I went on a bit of a Google-quest to find out more. I’ve now seen the locks work via video and read some fascinating statistics and stories – it’s truly an engineering marvel! So those parts of the story were extremely interesting to me. But they are merely the underpinning – the true magic in this one is the intrigue and drama Martin paints around the expansion teams…

This is a great geopolitical mystery-drama – I don’t know how else to categorize it! – full of unbelievable characters, convoluted relationships, and more lies and secrets than one isthmus should be able to hold… The characters are well developed and appropriately quirky; the politics are dense and play out in deliciously intertwined plot bits that are well paced and utterly engaging. I definitely recommend this one!

“I’m not wise. I simply have the view from the shore.”

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.