Anthony C. Patton

I liked the first part of this book, the theory is explained nicely and Patton clearly thought it out well. I think it can be useful for aspiring writers and give them some ideas on how to set up a story and make a good plot.

The second part of the book was really disappointing though. Patton illustrates his theory by using movies as examples, but, no offence, the movies are terrible. Really, if those are examples of 'excellent storytelling' then I have no ambition to become an excellent storyteller. It just makes the entire book less valuable and less convincing when a theory on storytelling is applied to really bad stories, and it really doesn't work very well.

I'd recommend aspiring writers to read the first part on theory, take from it what they find useful and skip the second part.… (más)

An interesting story of a CIA operative sent to Panama to complete an operation that had been overseen by a close friend of his. As the plot thickens one begins to wonder who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. An operation conceived to allow the United States to maintain military bases in Panama after 1999 becomes tied in with drug running and a ex-drug kingpin who considers himself the new liberator of all of the oppressed of the world. All of the characters are drawn together by the death of one women who all of them had loved. Who had done the killing, was it an accident, or was it suicide? That is the question that revolves around throughout the entire book. I believe it gives an good insight in how different forces within the United States government can work at cross purposes and cause more harm then good in some instances.

A very interesting and good read.… (más)

I received this book through LibraryThing Member Giveaway.

The story starts with the murder of CIA agent Tyler Broadman during a covert operation, and hinting at the death of his fiancee, Helena Hernandez. The CIA sends in Nicholas Lowe (Tyler's friend and fellow agent) to finish the job. Nick seems more focused on finding who killed Tyler and why.

The plot was interesting.I enjoyed the overall storyline. It seemed well thought out and realistic. After sending out a few red herrings, the good guys turned out to be the bad guys, which seemed a bit typical in government agency stories.
I'm not a political person, so I found all the conversations about Panamanian politics to be tedious to read. Also I found too many phrases were nauseatingly repeated throughout the book. I also didn't feel it was necessary to give full name with title almost everytime people were mentioned (such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Victor Hernandez).
Who was Helena other than Victor,s daughter that everyone in Panama seemed to have a perfume scented picture of her hidden away somewhere?… (más)

The plot of this book is really good. The CIA funding a Panama referendum to let American troops remain in country after the treaty that passes the Canal to the Panamanians. They are funding it using drug money. There's murder, intrigue, deception, politics, corruption. The problem is I never had a good feel for the characters themselves, especially the lead character, Nick Lowe. I know his history, but not his personality. I never really was able to get into the book. The story was conveyed well, but at times seemed stilted and forced. I found myself thinking of different ways the sentence or paragraph could have been phrased to make it read better or to give it more depth. In the end, I didn't hate this book, but nor did I love it.. If you love this type of plot, you need to read it and find out for yourself. You may just love it.… (más)