Havana Bay: A Novel (Mortalis.)
by Martin Cruz Smith
List Price:
Our Price: $7.00
You Save: $8.00 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.10 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Martin Cruz SmithEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-20
ISBN: 0345502981
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Book Reviews of Havana Bay: A Novel (Mortalis.)
Book Review: "What was it about violent death that was better than dreams?"
Summary: 4 Stars
When the brooding and sometimes depressed Russian "hero," Arkady Renko, travels to Havana to investigate the gruesome death of a Russian colleague, his contact with the high energy Cubans does little to improve his view of life. Renko, who has been featured in four Cruz Smith novels, has been so anxious to escape from the corruption in Moscow, that he has paid his own way to Cuba for a break. Within a week, however, he is planning his suicide.
Forty years have elapsed since the Cuban Revolution raised and then dashed the hopes of the Cuban people, and corruption is rampant among the higher-ups in the Cuban police department and the government. The early affinity between the Cubans and the Russians has changed to outright enmity, and Renko finds his own life threatened by Cubans. Though as a Russian he is not supposed to investigate his friend Pribluda's death, he is unsatisfied with the inquest. Making the acquaintance of Ophelia Osorio, a police officer in the National Police, who believes him to be honest, he is sometimes able to gain important information.
Gradually, this complex story evolves into an investigation of much more than the death of one Russian. A sugar company, set up in Panama and involving high-ranking Cubans, some Chinese, and some Russians appears to be a shell in a get-rich-quick scheme. Several American radicals now living in Cuba are involved in this and other schemes, and as the action picks up, complicated by Santeria and Abakua religious practices and beliefs, Renko is brutally attacked, leaving him wondering if he will live long enough to get on the plane for Moscow that weekend.
Cruz Smith's ability to convey the atmosphere of Havana and to depict the mood of its inhabitants of all economic levels brings the story alive, and the contrasts between Renko's dour Russian character and that of the Cubans suggest that the alienation between the two countries may have involved more than the Russians' failure to support Cuba financially. The action, slow to start and sometimes graphically violent, ends in a dramatic grand finale, including several crosses and double-crosses and leading to the reader's new view of what was really going on behind the scenes. Though the action is not as tight as it is in Gorky Park and Polar Star, this novel further develops the character of Renko and hints at new, more complex Renko novels to come. n Mary Whipple
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Some Suspense so Sublime
Hell's Bay (Thorn Mysteries)by James W. Hall
St. Martin's Minotaur; Published: 2008-02-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops:
Bangkok Hauntsby John Burdett
Knopf; Published: 2007-06-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops:
The Echo Maker: A Novelby Richard Powers
Picador; Published: 2007-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.89
Price in other shops:
Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand (Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries)by Fred Vargas
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-07-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Caught Stealing: A Novelby Charlie Huston
Ballantine Books; Published: 2005-05-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.88
Price in other shops:
Six Bad Things: A Novelby Charlie Huston
Ballantine Books; Published: 2005-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Plague Ship (Oregon Files)by Clive Cussler
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
In the Woodsby Tana French
Viking Adult; Published: 2007-05-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.11
Price in other shops:
T is for Trespass (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)by Sue Grafton
Putnam Adult; Published: 2007-12-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
TailSpin (FBI Thriller, No. 12)by Catherine Coulter
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-06-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.45
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Moscow Rulesby Daniel Silva
Putnam Adult; Published: 2008-07-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
The Spies of Warsaw: A Novelby Alan Furst
Random House; Published: 2008-06-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.00
Price in other shops:
Red Square: A Novel (Mortalis.)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-09-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.50
Price in other shops:
Roseby Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2000-02-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
December 6: A Novelby Martin Cruz Smith
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2002-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.95
Price in other shops:
Gorky Park: A Novel (Mortalis.)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-03-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Red Square (Arkady Renko Novels)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 1993-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops:
Polar Star: A Novel (Mortalis.)by Martin Cruz Smith
Ballantine Books; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Stalin's Ghost: An Arkady Renko Novelby Martin Cruz Smith
Pocket; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.28
Price in other shops:
Wolves Eat Dogsby Martin Cruz Smith
Pocket; Published: 2006-01-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.29
Price in other shops: