You're going to want to start this one on your day off because it is impossible to put down.

What a fascinating political high-stakes thriller. The Expansion is a careening tale that starts off with a bang and doesn't let you go until the end. And, even at the end, you just want more. I already can't wait for the sequel in 2018.

There's a decent-sized cast in the books but I found the characters each distinct enough to keep track of. They really develop their own voices for the reader and each one is just flawed enough to seem real. I enjoyed the multiple POV style as well as it lends an intimacy to the cast and also fuels the 'something under the surface' feeling of the story. The setting is fascinating as well. While I have never been to Central America, it was very alive in the book. My only criticism is that I found time difficult to follow in the book. There's one part where a character mentions that it's been two years and I thought, "Wait, it has? Since when?" But, that is such a small, minor thing that it hardly registered as I continued to sprint to the next page.

Great read that I highly recommend and can't wait to read the next one!

3/5

The Expansion by Christoph Martin follows "the expansion" of the Panama Canal. This novel has a major focus the politics of this expansion. There is a lot of world building at the beginning and was very dull for me until nearly halfway through the book. Once the action begins, it's very fast paced and because of this, the ending felt rushed. Everything happened all at once and there was nothing else.

I did like that this novel changed perspectives a lot. You really get to see what everyone else is thinking/doing. I really liked the plot twist with Karis Deen and her involvement in this story. The characters were well developed for the most part. Fischer's story felt incomplete to me and I would have liked a little more focus on her.

This story was very intriguing to me, but I think the execution fell a little short. I kind of wish it was a little slower with the story telling because it did feel rushed at the end. I think that it didn't focus enough on some of the complexities of the expansion process because I was left feeling lost at some parts.

Maybe this novel isn't what I was expecting, but, after a third of the story, I'm not invested in any of the characters. I'm finding it difficult to suspend disbelief in the plot, and I'm seriously considering abandoning it.

3.5 stars for this read. I was nervous it was going to be a long and difficult read from the summary, but it was quite the opposite. An easy read with a nice twist at the end, a likeable protagonist and a little drizzle of romance as well. I found the writing to be good but not wonderful, which is why I give it 3.5 and not 4 stars.

Max Burns dream comes true when he is chosen to be the head engineer for the expansion of the Panama Canal. In a world of political betrayal, bribes and unrest, Max finds himself framed for the murder of a senior official of the Canal's Board.Only his new girlfriend, a CIA Agent can save him. A fast paced thriller with an interesting location. Boy meets girl theme a little too twee and I would have liked to have found out more of a link with the prologue. Perhaps there is a sequel that connects the two?

This book reminded me very much of Ann Patchtett's State of Wonder. Unfortunately, I didn't like that one very much either. I found The Expansion to be very slow and had to trudge through it in many spots. I had a hard time really caring for or about any of the characters who seemed very one dimensional and not fleshed out enough. I did like that there wasn't much technical talk regarding the Panama Canal even though a large part of the book centers around its blueprints, plans, budget and expansion project. Many events were left as dangling loose ends, never to be tied up or severed and, even worse, some events had nothing to really do with any of the storylines and did not bring anything substantial to the narrative.

This book jumped out and was a pleasant surprise! I read "The Expansion" after an enthusiastic email from the author, knowing nothing about the story's contents. At first, the story follows Max Burns, an engineer from the UK who has been recruited to help in a project to expand the Panama Canal. He is suddenly sucked into a world of scheming and politics he is likely not prepared for. Mid-book we jump to the story of Karis, a "science student" "studying" in Panama. But is that all Karis is? Spoiler Alert: NO! I was so caught off guard when this story took a turn toward action/thriller, I actually gasped and yelled out loud while reading this book waiting for an oil change: *They killed *SPOILER*!"

I knew next to nothing about Panama and the fantastic canal with it's intricate entanglements. This book had me running to google to get some history on the canal and brush up on my knowledge of South America in general. It's not often that a work of fiction sends me immediately to research a topic (SO INTERESTING!) but I'm glad it did. Despite this, the story stands strongly on it's own perfectly engineered legs with no prior knowledge necessary. I really enjoyed the characters, the intrigue and the hidden layer of political struggle dragged to the surface .My only complaint is that I wanted more! It felt like we only scratched the surface, even with all the developments in the plot and characters themselves. Looking forward to more by this author. A really easy, enjoyable read.

The Expansion deals with the mega engineering world of the Panama Canal. This book by Christoph Martin is rife with mystery, political intrigue and big business set in exotic locations. Max Burns changes his whole life for a shot at working on the new Panama Canal. He just didn't know how much his life would change.. I don't want to give away too much of the story. If you like tense dramactic mysteries this is a must read..

I have never really read political thriller but this book has added that genre to my list. It was very well written. It had the perfect amount of suspense and mystery to keep a reader hooked. The story was a bit dragged in the middle though, but it ended well. The story line of Karis and Max was interesting and very informative, the book was a bit historical too, takes the reader on a ride. Feels like you're actually living the story..

The book sets the scene when a young boy is orphaned due to a financial disaster that caused his parents to die under tragic circumstances. Penniless he is brought up by his uncle to become a brilliant engineer. He is head hunted to join a team which is to tender for a mega project. His brilliant conceptual design makes him the chief engineer to run the project. Mega engineering projects impinge into the world of politics, vested interests and finance. This then also gives rise to espionage and secret plots and counter plots that threatens to cause a financial crash when the project has been won and in execution. When one of the secret wheelers and dealers is murdered and The engineer is being set up as the fall guy, a US special agent sent to investigate befriends him and the pair manages to save the day. A fascinating insight into the world of engineering.

I received an advanced copy of this novel. All I can say is this author is good. I believe that this may be their debut novel, as there is no record of this novel anywhere on Goodreads or anywhere else for that matter. This surprised me. Why? I shall explain.

The way in which this novel is written, it feels like the kind of thriller that a more experienced author would write. I am not a huge fan of politics, however Martin manages to develop the characters so well in this novel, that you feel a compassion towards each and every one.

I don't believe in spoilers, so I am not going to give the novel away. However, I believe that Martin has written a novel that most likely portrays the reality of tenders/bids for big projects, and the politics involved. There's a snake in the grass, old school friends, a bit of romance and also the secret service thrown in for good measure!!

Martin does not disappoint with this novel, and a bright future awaits if this is any indication. Thoroughly recommend this book to anyone as there is something in it for everyone!

At the moment there is no Goodreads review for this novel as Goodreads do not have it listed on their database.

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"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."
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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...

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"I'm not wise. I simply have the view from the shore."
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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!

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"One finds, in life, that one doesn't unlearn skills such as how to swing a golf club. It's simply a matter of adapting to new circumstances."
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Conspiracy, industrial espionage, murder, clandestine dealings, romance and Political greed and manipulation, all played a major role in this story, I would label this story High Octave on the intrigue side. What a conglomerate of things happening in this book, the storyline is very captivating and filled with intense and gripping scenarios giving this story an exciting and interesting flow. Max and his team have been blindsided through the workings of some deep subterfuge, they were like sheep being led to the slaughter only in this case I would say they were the perfect scapegoats. The characters of this story are awesome and well defined, I like Paco, Godfredo and even Sofia as well as Agent Dean and Alan, giving this book its awesomeness. A truly well written work of art, it was an incredible read and this makes this book a must read for all those adrenaline junkies out there, I am sure you would not regret it.

I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book is quite a different read to my normal choices these days. The story-line was very intriguing. Conspiracy and treachery around the expansion of the Panama canal.

The books brings an interesting twist with different groups bidding to expand the canal. We have a lot double dealing as it appears the British engineer has come up with an amazing design that is a clear winner..... the issue.... the consortium backing him has bid so low is this a fix....? Are they destined for trouble?

What I loved with the book was the interplay of the bidding wars and the obvious side dealing from the winning consortium. Yes the American's are suspicious, but they were not being sidelined by the Chinese in the way they expected.

Lots of twists and turns and a fun read. No spells, no "killing" per say, just lots of clever writing.

The Expansion is the first book by Christoph Martin that I have read so I wasn't sure what to expect. There is some violence. But overall it is a political spy type thriller. It is a standalone but the ending leaves the storyline open for future books that might be written.

The book blurb adequately describes the storyline so I'm not going to repeat all of that info here. This is a thriller that could easily take place today. As usual, everything is not as it seems. I look forward to reading more of this series if additional books get written.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. I chose to write a review for other readers.

The Expansion
by Christoph Martin
Clink Street Publishing
Courtesy of NetGalley

The Expansion by Christoph Martin is set in Panama and deals with the expansion of the canal. The original canal, completed in 1914, could not accommodate the modern large ships. The largest ships that could fit were labeled Pana-Max, for maximum size. After years of planning, Panama decided to go ahead with the expansion by building a new set of larger locks next to the original locks.

I was very interested in getting my hands on this book for one simple reason: I was born in the Panama Canal Zone. I am the descendent of one of the original workers. Although I left shortly after the end of fifth grade, my identity begins and ends as a Zonian. I was very curious to see if Mr. Martin could tell a good story and have an accurate Panama a the landscape on which he told it.

So many of the details are good. The oppressive humidity. The food. The mix of languages and customs. The extreme wealth and extreme poverty contained within Panama City. It was recognizable to me.

The main character of the story, Max Burns, is a British engineer who is hired to plan how the new canal will be built. He is hired by his childhood friend Godfredo Roco and his father Paco. Paco is a big league con man. His plan is to win the bid on the canal, start the work, drain off everything he can, declare bankruptcy and blame Max. He plans on doing it far into the project so Panama has no choice but to bail out the project and finish it. Godfredo is aware of some of his father’s plans but not all.

Added to the mix is Karis Deen. When the book starts, Karis is working for the Smithsonian in Panama as a biologist. She is actually a CIA agent is a deep cover project. As the canal project progresses, the US government keeps a wary eye on China who they fear want their own canal in Nicaragua and will try to sabotage the new Panamanian Canal.

The story is interesting. It is not compelling though. I had a hard time with Godfredo and Paco’s characters. They seemed two dimensional. Max seemed naive. All it all, it wasn’t a bad story until the end. The last chapter had me scratching my head. The book ended very abruptly, I mean VERY abruptly. I turned back and forth several times on my device trying to figure out where the conclusion of the story went. I am not sure if this is to be a series or not. If it is, the ending needs to get fixed or readers will not stick around for the next one.

Not my cup of tea at all! And yet it's well written and finely plotted, it just didn't grab me as I have read from other reviews on this book, clearly I missed the point of the first few chapters! I might give it another go as the writing is well done and on that alone it gets 3⭐️s.

Quite a short novel and definitely in two halves. I was quite caught up in the whole Panama canal expansion project and was quite expecting for it to continue in a corporate corruption genre. However midway through it became a super spy thriller. Whilst either genre would make a great stand alone novel, I think melding the two spoilt it. That's not to say it wasn't a very enjoyable read. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of Karis and hopefully Max too.

A High Stakes Political Thriller

When Max Burns leaves his university teaching position to take a job with his future father-in-law, he thinks his future is secure. Suddenly, he’s offered the chance of a life time, designing the expansion of the Panama Canal. Max can’t pass up the opportunity. He leaves England, his new job, and his finacé to go to Panama.

Multiple countries are bidding on the project, UK, US, Germany, and Japan. The teams are surprised that China isn’t bidding. China’s absence leads to speculation that they are planning to disrupt the project. Max puts together a brilliant design working with his old school friend, Godfredo, and his father’s construction company. When the bids are submitted, Max is stunned to learn that they’re the low bidder. He doesn’t believe they can do the project for that amount. What if they win?

Max is a brilliant scientist and a good person. You can’t help, but like him and hope he succeeds against the odds. Godfredo is a likable con artist. He’s completely under his father’s thumb, but he has good instincts and in a crunch doesn’t want to let Max down. Max has a girl friend, Karis Deen, an American working for the Smithsonian in Panama. She is a tough lady, but not as fleshed out as Max and Godfredo.

The book is unique in the thriller genre. There is a murder, but there’s very little violence and the sex takes place off stage. I enjoyed that, but if you’re looking for sex and violence, you’ll be disappointed. The book has a slow start. The author goes deep into backstory for Max and Godfredo, and the political situation. The action doesn’t start until very late in the book. If you don’t mind wading through Max’s early life and the political background, it’s a good read.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.