The Expansion By Christoph Martin: The Politics And Schemes Behind Canal Expansions

Although The Expansion by Christoph Martin is fiction, it definitely has the feel of something that was researched, and I found the plot to be believable.

The story follows Max Burns who is contracted to work for the British team of engineers in Panama. They will be submitting a bid for the work on the canal expansion. However, there are other countries vying for the job as well. Some will stop at nothing to achieve that goal. Set in the lush tropics, The Expansion showcases the opulence of the country through the ambassadors, parties and country clubs. At the same time, the other extreme is revealed through the poverty of the old city, complete with hundreds of street cats and prostitutes working for a way up in the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it to be a fast and engaging read. While there was a lot of talk of politics and engineering, nothing was difficult to follow. In fact, it read much more like a suspense thriller. The reader is taken on a whirlwind spin while these teams compete for a chance at a multi-billion dollar project. There are secret agents, deception, intrigue and even death.

My favorite part of this novel was the description of life in Panama. I enjoyed reading about how ambassadors for various embassies live. I also liked learning about the process of how a team is chosen for a project as large as something like canal expansion. While these may have been the drier aspects of the book, they were the highlights for me. On the other end of the spectrum were the mystery and romance aspects of the book. I suppose no proper thriller can be without a leading lady and an appropriate amount of romance. I didn't feel like this part of the book was overdone at all. I do think that the characters became a bit clichéd at times. That was my least favorite part. There was the typical good guy, the extremely attractive leading lady, the womanizing friend, the overbearing father and a smattering of smaller characters who all fit a little too perfectly into their roles. While this all makes for an easy and entertaining read, it tends to feel a bit lacking in depth to me.

Overall, I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. I breezed right through it. I wanted to know the outcome. Yet, I found it a bit easy to guess. I think this book could be enjoyed by a variety of readers. It's great for thriller, mystery, suspense, romance or political fans. It does have a very real-world feel to it and would probably not be as appreciated by fans of fantasy novels. The book is set up nicely for a sequel. So, now I will wait and see what future adventures await Max Burns.