PANAMA captures the sweep of this country's tumultuous history. Moving between past and present -- from pivotal events in Panama's past to the American withdrawal in 1999 -- this is the action-filled saga of a man and a nation searching for their identities.

Hank Duque is a third-generation Canal Zonian, a hybrid of American and Panamanian ancestry, who returns to Panama in 1989 after a twenty-five year exile. Immediately upon his arrival, a La Guardia intelligence officer, Major Carlos Mejias, recognizes him and knows of his role in the bloody 1964 student riot. Hank wonders how the major was able to identify him so quickly.

Hank has an assignment to write the Panama section of a Central American travel guide. He plans to be in the country no more than a week. However, he meets Andrea Arias, a self-reliant Panamanian, and becomes caught up in the prevailing political upheaval as Manuel Noriega, a former CIA operative and now military dictator, defies both the United States government and the Panamanian people.

Hank's odyssey takes him throughout Panama, from the teeming streets of Panama City to the impenetrable jungle of the interior, from the landscaped boulevards of the Canal Zone to a squalid cell known as La Preventiva.

"Sal si puedes," Hank's Panamanian grandfather had implored. "Get out if you can."

Now, twenty-five years later, Hank has returned.

"Belize and Panama are fine, well-written books."
            Melanie Rigney, editor, Writer's Digest Magazine

"Damn good story!"
            Robert "Dick" Vaughn, American author of 150 published Novels

"Well-written, highly entertaining."
            Canal Zonian reader

"Remarkable presentation of the factors that divided my country."
            Panamanian reader

"I lived through the events leading up to Operation Just Cause. Panama -- A Novel does justice to the events of 1989. It is an exceptionally well written book."
             American-Panamanian reader

"Book browsers beware that this book is no travelogue or tour guide. It is a tense account that brings to life the tensions and triumphs of Panama."
             American reader

"Took me back to a place that no longer exists."
            Canal Zonian reader      

"I did not want the story to end."
            Panamanian reader  

"Oh my gosh, it is such a good read. I couldn't put it down."
            Canal Zonian reader  

"A book you can read over and over."
            American reader   

"A real page turner. Buy it. Read it."
            Canal Zonian reader

"Would make a great movie."
            American-Panamanian reader

"Super book -- cleverly woven fact and fiction into a real thriller."
            Canal Zonian reader

"This finely crafted novel brings the reader an insider's view of the long and often disruptive pairings of Americans and Panamanians.
            American reader  

"Hard to put down. I will read it again and again.
            Canal Zonian reader

"Reader becomes a part of the country and the culture."
            American reader

"Very believable. I loved it!"
            Canal Zonian reader

"Easy to read, interesting, and presents varying viewpoints. A fine work."
            Panamanian reader