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Overview
It is the fall of 1958 in Havana, Cuba. Mickey Mantle's New York Yankees are playing the Milwaukee Braves, and from the greasy-spoon cafeterias to the luxurious casinos, bets are coming in fast and furious. Everyone is riveted to the series - and no one more so than criminal mastermind Mariano "Ox" Contreras. He has been handpicked by the Joe Bonanno crime family to pull off one of the biggest, most daring heists in Cuba's history - the one that will finally bring rival mob boss Meyer Lansky's hotel and gambling empire to its knees.With the guidance of Lebanese hustler-turned-tycoon Elias Naguib, Contreras organizes a dream team of Cuba's most intrepid and ingenious ex-cons. His right-hand man is Fermin Rodriguez, a short, bald Spanish-Cuban whose career as a pimp ended when he stabbed a boxer in the liver. The law-school dropout Arturo "Abo" Heller is the decoy, posing as the high-rolling son of a tobacco farmer. Former gigolo turned Casino de Capri dealer Wilberto "Willy Pi" Pires is the inside man. Valentin "Meringue" Rancano, a backwater boy who came to the Cuban capital with twenty-five stolen pesos in his pocket before cutting his teeth as a dice shark, is the scout. And Melchor "Wheel" Loredo, the island's most intrepid car thief, is the getaway driver.
As the series goes down to the wire, Contreras and his ragtag team await the final out, when the overflowing coffers of Lansky's casino are ripe for the picking. If all goes off without a hitch, their futures will finally be made. But in a country where unrest and uncertainty are the order of the day, is it possible that all will not go according to plan?
Synopsis
With Havana World Series, one of Latin America's premier crime writers offers a blend of baseball, American mobsters, and corrupt cops. It is the fall of 1958 and all of Cuba is riveted to the World Series-the New York Yankees are playing the Milwaukee Braves and the infamous Meyer Lansky's gambling empire is raking in millions in bets. With a team of Cuba's boldest and most ingenious criminals, rival mob boss Joe Bonnano plans to hijack Lanksy's fortune. The heist goes off brilliantly until Bonnano's point man is double-crossed and shot dead. As Lansky's man in the police department investigates the murder, he suspects the involvement of career criminal Mariano Contreras-and to get Bonnano out of the Cuban racket once and for all, Lansky will stop at nothing to track Contreras down. Alive with vibrant detail and a fantastic cast of misfit characters, Havana World Series is an entertaining and suspenseful story.
The Washington Post
… [a] flavorsome, exactingly calibrated caper-yarn-cum-thriller … The complications Latour throws in are priceless. — Richard Lipez