Spy's Fate

Publishers Weekly

This first novel written in English by a veteran Cuban author who worked on "projects" in Angola and elsewhere is a captivating thriller based on the murky U.S.-Cuban spy wars . . . [Spy's Fate is an] intriguing look into Cuban culture, with vibrant dialogue and characters . . . The insightful sociopolitical picture, the nasty maneuverings of both services and the credible spy plot make this a fascinating read.

Library Journal

"A Cuban spy caught between an old enemy in the CIA and his own State Security Police faces a series of Kafkaesque twists in Havana author Correa's first English-language novel....this is an engrossing portrait, highly recommended for all public libraries.

In These Times

"Correa's SPY'S FATE is a...revelation, a detailed excursion into the Byzantine world of the Cuban secret service and rivalries among the island's ruling elite. This is a layered, complex and engaging novel...

Publishers Weekly

This first novel written in English by a veteran Cuban author who worked on "projects" in Angola and elsewhere is a captivating thriller based on the murky U.S.-Cuban spy wars. Correa deftly paints the history of Castro's Cuban intelligence service and the changing face of the Miami exile community. Veteran intelligence agent Carlos Manuel is recalled to Havana after his wife commits suicide, only to find himself out of work when the Soviet economic pullout leaves Cuba strapped. After watching his estranged children set out on a raft for the U.S., he "borrows" a boat with the help of his old boss and rescues the kids from certain death in stormy weather, but shoots another rafter in a fight for a lifeboat before the Coast Guard pulls them in to a Florida detention center. Enter Timothy King, head of the CIA's Cuba desk, who soon learns that Carlos Manuel is the Cuban agent who bested him in Nicaragua and cost him his leg. With his New York sister's help, Carlos hides out in Vermont, where he finds romance and plots to return to Cuba. King pulls out all the stops and kidnaps Carlos's daughter to force his surrender, while the Cuban service assumes he has defected and mounts a hunt of their own. This intriguing look into Cuban culture, with vibrant dialogue and characters, is marred only by the slightly wooden tone of the narrative. The insightful sociopolitical picture, the nasty maneuverings of both services and the credible spy plot make this a fascinating read. (May) Forecast: A jacket playing up the novel's Cuban themes would have helped this thriller stand out better on shelves (the design features a stylish but neutral bull's-eye). Nevertheless, this should find an audience, particularly if it's marketed in Cuban exile communities. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A Cuban spy caught between an old enemy in the CIA and his own State Security Police faces a series of Kafkaesque twists in Havana author Correa's first English-language novel. In 1994, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Carlos Manuel returns from Africa to Havana to find everything changed. His wife has committed suicide, his three children are estranged from their father, the country's economy is in shambles, and he is without a job or a home. When the kids embark for the States on a raft, Carlos Manuel follows to protect them. The CIA, meanwhile, learns that a high-ranking Cuban Intelligence officer has defected but can't find him. In time, the FBI, the CIA, and the Cuban Ministry of the Interior are all in pursuit of the presumed defector. After spending time in a Florida refugee camp and in Vermont, Carlos Manuel returns to Cuba, only to find that every accident of fate is presumed to be part of an elaborate plot of his own making. Though the novel's tight threads slacken near the end, this is an engrossing portrait, highly recommended for all public libraries. Ronnie H. Terpening, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

From Cuba with panache, a rare English-language thriller, written with flair, authority, and admirable detachment, about intelligence operations grown soft. Maybe the softness is because top people have been top people too long. At any rate, where there was once an energetic, uncomplicated hatred for the opposition, now, as often as not, there's an unsettling spirit of cooperation between Cuba's Intelligence Service and the CIA. That doesn't mean that the rival services aren't prepared to kill each other's operatives. It's just that time and custom have given rise to unwritten rules regarding how and when and even who it's permissible to kill. Carlos Manuel, a veteran intelligence officer, returns to Cuba from extended duty in Africa to find himself facing drastically changed life circumstances, professional and personal. For reasons difficult to get at, his unhappy, economically challenged country no longer seems to value him, while his own embittered children condemn him for being unavailable during periods of intense family stress. While fleeing Cuba, nevertheless, Carlos's children are set upon by a gang of thugs and saved only by their father's timely intervention. And now here's Carlos, stranded in the US and suddenly within reach of an ancient enemy. Ruthless, obsessively vengeful Timothy Sidney King is a throwback, a CIA dinosaur who won't play by any rules but his own. To lure Carlos into the open, King kidnaps his daughter-infuriating a variety of key people in both camps, since all of them know a two-edged sword when they see one. Alliances shift, dissolve, and reform with dazzling speed, but when Carlos and King meet in a final showdown there's no confusion about what eachhas in mind for the other. Character-driven and consistently entertaining: the first US publication for storywriter and second-novelist Correa, "considered one of the three founders of the Cuban crime-fiction genre."