MWSA Book Review

Copper Penny

Author:  Timothy G. Davis

Publisher: Publish America

Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA

A Suspenseful Story set in Panama

Acclaimed novelist of political intrigue and Army veteran, Timothy G. Davis gives us another suspense thriller; this time it is set in the Central American country of Panama. It is written against the back drop of both real and imaginative situations created by the writer. In his newest book “Copper Penny” he takes a poor street vendor who has the uncanny knack for reading people and situations. His skills become rather well know in the neighborhood he lives and works in. This comes to the worried attention of some unsavory military people.

The story unwinds and unfolds almost poetically as we get to know our main character Sebastian Zuniga; an old man who sells snow cones not far from the presidential residence. Things begin to unravel for Sebastian when he is visited by a man named Bruce Lee who works for a General Herrera. Bruce tells him that he will be watching him and that sets up a chain of events. Sebastian begins to think about all the odd events that have been going on around him and develops some  real concerns and feelings that things are not right. When he gets his regular drive-by visit from the president for a snow cone, Sebastian advices him that it might be good for him and his entire family to take a vacation – out of country. The president takes the suggestion seriously; it seems he is gone the next day on an unscheduled family vacation.

The plot gets thicker and as a reader you get anxious and impatient to find out what happens on the next page. Soon, Sebastian is picked-up and taken by car by Bruce to the see the General at the Presidential residence. Readers will begin to realize that there are more devious things going on; and Sebastian finds himself on the short list of someone’s hit list.

Davis has written kind of a cultural and social portrait of life in Panama as well as a great thriller novel. It is an enjoyable reading experience - full of suspense and some surprises and twists. It makes use a good narrative and dialog but it is the characters in this story that make it work. He fleshes them out so he can almost feel them standing next to you while you are reading his story.

This book receives the MWSA’s top rating of FIVE STARS!