Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite

When you read a book as intricately plotted, with so many characters, and with as large an amount of both technical and political information as depicted in The Panama Contagion by DM Coffman, you find yourself wondering how the author knows so much about the China of which the average Westerner has little awareness. Coffman’s knowledge is the result of living and working in China for four years, coupled with her background in the US legal profession. But she also has experienced first-hand the devastating effects of SARS, wearing masks and quarantine, all of which qualifies her to write her latest fiction thriller.

Given how the world is currently battling the Covid19 pandemic, you will either be curious or very cautious about reading The Panama Contagion. This is another of those terrorist plot novels aimed at bringing America to its knees. In this case, the plot involves a double whammy: 1) Load an empty cruise ship with explosives and have it blow up in the Panama Canal and 2) expose passengers on two cruise ships sailing into Miami and Los Angeles to a coronavirus. In our current crisis, I don’t need to spell out what would happen next if those sick passengers aren’t quarantined before returning to their families on shore. Attempting to thwart the murderous plot is a Chinese-American attorney, Yi, whom fans of DM Coffman’s previous book, The Net Conspiracy, might remember. His primary opponent is someone known only as “the foreigner,” a psychopathic killer. When the foreigner cleverly infects Yi with the virus, the race is on to not only save Yi but all the people world-wide succumbing to the deadly contagion, not to mention the US somehow needing to find a way to prevent the catastrophic explosion of a ship in the Panama Canal.

DM Coffman will have you turning the pages quickly once you get past learning how the terrorist group is structured and plans to carry off its evil scheme. Through Yi, she brings a romantic angle into the story; she also appeals to the most basic of human emotions as we watch a loving family of four struggling with the virus. Coffman’s style is polished, her scenes well-rendered and her characters believable. Coffman’s fans will snap this one up and love every bit of it. And what about you? Are you more curious than cautious about Coffman’s depiction of a possible pandemic? Why not find out by reading The Panama Contagion today.