A Death in Panama

by Ronald A. Williams

Ronald Williams’ second novel, A Death in Panama is a worthy follow up to his highly successful first novel, Four Saints and an Angel. It is a book that will delight and mystify those who became instant fans, and for readers new to his work, it will have the impact of a seduction. Set in Panama, Barbados and the U.S., A Death in Panama presents us with the mysterious and frightening world of the Panama of the first decade of the 20th century when the canal was being built and fortunes were being made. Many of those fortunes were made in highly unlawful ways.

Now, in 1976, a decision is on the verge of being made to return the canal to Panama. Many corporations, descendants of companies formed when the 20th century was young, are terrified that the horrific secrets of that period will become known upon the return. At the center of this drama are two men, Rupert Barnes and Octavius Bryant, both survivors of the lawless period. They are now old men, but they are hardly incapacitated. As the American government moves toward return of the canal, both men find themselves drawn into a conflict that had begun in the jungles of Panama.

Barnes, through whose memories much of the action unfolds, is a teenager when the memories give us access to his life, and the reader is drawn into a world of mysticism, sexuality, broken promises and lost faith. Barnes is transformed in the course of the novel from a laughing naïve boy to a man who accepts that his salvation is no longer a possibility.

His sexual irresponsibility and thoughtlessness as a young man also lead him into the unexpected dilemma of conflict with his grandchildren whom he does not know exist. Ultimately, accepting that his life is a moral vacuum, Barnes decides that his final act is to confront Bryant whom he blames for his moral decline. Bryant, however, is not defenceless and is, in fact, engaged in his final act: the destruction of the Panama Canal.

(From Publisher).

Dr. Ronald A. Williams was born in Barbados. He now resides in Maryland and is a vice president of the College Board in Washington, D.C. He has a Ph.D. in English and enjoys reading and golfing. He and his wife have two daughters.

The title of this book will evoke feelings in people in all quarters of the globe, not just because the title sounds as if the author may have unearthed some facts about the other aspect of a time and event in history that can still be described in superlatives. This book crosses all kinds of boundaries, countries, class, sex, ethics and morality, leaving one to ponder the question "which death?"