Overview
In Cuba, deceit is routine, paranoia is reasonable, and everything banned thrives out of sight.
Elena Miranda, a special-needs teacher, has no idea what lies behind the wall in her bathroom, nor that a ruthless Vietnam vet has come to Havana to retrieve it for his employer. The beautiful woman posing as the American vet’s wife is actually with him for only one reason: Her Spanish is fluent, his is nonexistent.
What they are there to do is neither an easy nor a pleasant task. Another man is also after what is behind that wall, and other problems complicate the job. Shortly after the Americans arrive, Elena’s brother is murdered, and a Havana cop is assigned to the crime. Calmly but relentlessly, Captain Felix Trujillo begins to work on the murder and discovers that the dead man was hardly an upstanding citizen. He does find clues he can use, especially when he becomes aware that he is following not one but a trail of corpses.
Hidden in Havana is a shocking story of betrayal and cunning, where the hunters become hunted, the best-laid plans are derailed by greed and virtue, and getting valuable treasure is far less important than getting out of Cuba alive.
Synopsis
In Cuba, deceit is routine, paranoia is reasonable, and everything banned thrives out of sight.
Elena Miranda, a special-needs teacher, has no idea what lies behind the wall in her bathroom, nor that a ruthless Vietnam vet has come to Havana to retrieve it for his employer. The beautiful woman posing as the American vet’s wife is actually with him for only one reason: Her Spanish is fluent, his is nonexistent.
What they are there to do is neither an easy nor a pleasant task. Another man is also after what is behind that wall, and other problems complicate the job. Shortly after the Americans arrive, Elena’s brother is murdered, and a Havana cop is assigned to the crime. Calmly but relentlessly, Captain Felix Trujillo begins to work on the murder and discovers that the dead man was hardly an upstanding citizen. He does find clues he can use, especially when he becomes aware that he is following not one but a trail of corpses.
Hidden in Havana is a shocking story of betrayal and cunning, where the hunters become hunted, the best-laid plans are derailed by greed and virtue, and getting valuable treasure is far less important than getting out of Cuba alive.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
This solid noir from Cuban expatriate Latour (Outcast) opens with a deceptive encounter in an upscale Havana suburb. Sean and Marina, two joggers claiming to be Canadian tourists in need of water, buzz the door of Elena Miranda, an attractive special education teacher, who lets the couple into her spacious if shabby apartment. Elena's hospitality toward the strangers arouses the ire of her brother, Pablo, who suspects they're up to no good. When someone breaks Pablo's neck soon after this meeting, his murder appears to be linked to his involvement in a lucrative pornography racket. Capt. Felix Trujillo of the Department of Technical Investigations later learns that the killing may connect in some way to Pablo's father, a legendary figure in the struggles to topple Batista, now imprisoned for a crime of passion. Some readers may be dismayed that Latour focuses more on the scheming Sean and Marina than on Trujillo, whose wry awareness of the challenges of being an honest policeman in a corrupt system would make him an intriguing series lead. (Mar.)
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