Rating: 
Summary: great book but you can guess the ending
Review: This is an enjoyable read, with two very interesting central characters. Chapters are contained enough for this to be a good bedtime read. Unfortunately, at about 150 pages, you can guess who did it. Still, getting there is fun. Reminds me of some of the Susan Isaacs books.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read: not quite Eco, but that's not a bad thing.
Review: I've read most of Perez-Reverte's texts, and "The Flanders Panel" -- his debut -- is vintage material. Often compared to the work of Italian intellectualist-author Umberto Eco, Perez-Reverte engages new themes and topics in each work, delving into them with a passion and interest that I can't help but find impressive -- in each case, the details are sufficient to let the characters pass for experts, but not overwhelming or boring. In TFP, the topics du jour are art restoration, historical intrigues, and chess, and the three blend together to create a sinister and satisfying thriller -- I took this one down in about four hours, while on vacation at the beach, and was hooked as soon as the real action started. (Give it about 20-25 pages before you put it down the first time.) Using the process of a chess game to drive the action of the book, Perez-Reverte manages to make an often-dull game vibrant, exciting, and threatening. I'm a chess fan, myself, but you don't have to be to get into, wrapped up in, or to the end of this book. Diagrams are included to show each move in the "game" that unfolds, and the action on the board is mirrored in real life -- a sinister murder for each piece captured on the table. The characters are believable and well-written, and P-R's prose, as usual, flows well and feels good going down. If anything disappoints, it might be the ending. Like "The Club Dumas", another fantastic intelli-thriller, the ending feels a bit rushed, and less complete than you're led to expect... it IS plausible, and it ISN'T obvious, and that's enough to make it passable. A rushed ending, however, does not kill a good read, and that, in the end, is what TFP is: a nice, quick, engaging and intellectual thriller, and a nice debut for a promising author. If the comparisons to Eco are inaccurate, it is because Eco tends to give excessive thought and explanation to each theme in his novels, while Perez gives you just enough background info to get you excited, and then runs with it. BOTTOM LINE: A good strong intellectual thriller for those who find Mary Higgins Clark and her kind just a bit too formulaic. Perez-Reverte scores.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Plot Gone Bad
Review: The Flanders Panel has an intriguing premise but I found it hard to read. The dialouge between the characters is unrealistic. Every comment by each character seems to be either part of some philosophical debate, usually pretentious or downright silly, or contains a reference to some historical or literary figure. It sounds like the characters are a bunch of professors, each trying to sound more intelligent than the other. Also, the comparisons of chess to life drone on endlessly. If you can get through the dialouge, the plot can be compelling at times. I found the ending, however, contrived and disappointing. Overall, I would not recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: great set-up for a mystery....
Review: The story has one of the most entertaining original premises I've ever read. Throw in the game of chess and all of its possibilities both as an allegory and a device for solving the mystery and you have a very entertaining set-up. However, the payoff was not in line with the premise and that's where I downgrade the book. The ending was not consistent with the characterization, and, to me, there was something icky (for lack of a better word) about one of the key relationships. While that did not take away from the mystery, it did distract from the read. I did like the chess player, and thought he was a great character. The book would have been much better had he been the protagonist rather than Julia. Still, the plot in itself makes the story worth the read, and its originality eases the let down of the ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Is it better in Spanish?
Review: Unfortunately, The Flanders Panel is one of those novels that lure you in with a tantalizing and well-packaged premise, only to leave you wrecked on a disappointing shoal of overwrought cliches and characterizations that in their attempt to tittilate only manage to over-reach. The only thing resonating through it is a false note of itellectualism that at base is nothing more than obscure name dropping. Much of this may be forgivable if it weren't for the sad way in which Julia's dialogue renders her a pale spectre floating through her own starring role. Her words sound as though they were generated by writing software rather than a human being and I wonder how much of this owes to the translation as The Seville Communion feels so much more believable.
Rating:
Summary: Fairly interesting book with homophobic ending
Review: I found this book to be engrossing, but the ending was homophobic enough to make me squeamish...suggesting it was sinister and diabolical (even going so far as using chess moves to describe it). That's at least one I haven't heard before. Also, I don't know enough about chess to be bothered the mistake a few other reviews mention. I didn't even notice it, so I doubt your average chess player will be distracted by it.
Rating: 
Summary: An enjoyable read..
Review: In "The Flanders Panel", Arturo Perez-Reverte has written something of an old fashioned whodunit that unfurls like film noir. Our heroine Julia is an art restorer with an excellent reputation and a passion for her work. She uncovers a hidden message in a painting, "Who killed this knight?" and breaks open a long dead mystery. This mystery could very well cause her life but once involved she realizes she can't pull out. I enjoyed the mystery aspect and even the art restoring aspect but since I am not the world's best chess player some of the moves (o.k. most of them)explained in the book went a bit over my head and I had to re-read a couple of passages because of it. If you have no liking for chess this may not be the book for you since the mystery and the chess game are very much entwined. The secondary cast of characters were interesting as well, especially the fellow she enlists to help her solve the chess game. We aren't given a lot of information about him but what we are given, speaks volumes about the kind of person he is. I was also surprised by the ending and who was behind it. Although, I did find the ending anti-climactic, a bit of let down and also felt it ended a bit abruptly. I would still recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Yep, the chess game was a let-down
Review: The obvious flaw in the analysis of the crucial chess game, also pointed out by another reviewer, totally blew this book away for me. Nice cover, nice typing, but intellectual? Not even clever. Looking for anther Eco? Don't bother. What a disappointment...
Rating:
Summary: This was lots of fun to read
Review: I've read "The Club Dumas" as well. I enjoy Mr Perez-Reverte's work. I couldn't for the life of me figure out "whodunit". I was quite surprised. Just as "the Club Dumas" made me interested in reading "The Three Muskateers" and made me re-read "The Count of Monte Cristo", this book peaked my interest in visiting our local art museum and have a look at art from that time period.
Rating: 
Summary: Intelligent and Intriguing Mystery
Review: Arturo Perez-Reverte is an amazing writer, truly gifted not only in the art of spinning a creative and sophisticated mystery but also in jumping the cultural and historical boundaries. This book (as is The Club Dumas) is a bibliomystery fan's dream come true. Julia, a woman who restores paintings for a living, is asked to help restore a fifteenth-century masterpiece, the painting depicts a chess game between the Duke of Flanders and his knight - but within it is a hidden message - Who Killed The Knight and thus the novel begins. This book is filled to the brim with fascinating information about art, history and chess. If you liked this book you should run out and get The Eight by Katherine Neville- is another stunner!
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