Havana Run

by Les Standiford Narrated by Scott Brick

Overview

Many writers have highlighted South Florida's colorful characters, but John Deal is a remarkably normal man, put in extraordinary situations. Deal has spent much of his adult life trying to rebuild the Miami construction firm that his late father ruined. Cuba has just normalized relations with the United States, and when the possibility of a major project there arises, he can't help being intrigued - only to find that he has been lured to Havana for another, far more dangerous purpose: to help spring an American prisoner from a Castro jail. Deal wants nothing to do with it, until he discovers the identity of the prisoner: a man closer to him than he could have possibly imagined, and the holder of secrets many groups would kill for...

"[The John Deal series] is one of the best-written, most completely satisfying series currently being produced." (St. Petersburg Times)

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

This rock-solid novel, number eight in Standiford's line of South Florida crime capers (Deal on Ice; Raw Deal; etc.) is as blunt and powerful as a punch to the head from series hero John Deal himself. Deal is rebuilding the failed Miami construction firm he inherited from his father, dead by suicide. Soon after moving to Key West to oversee a major construction contract, Deal is approached by Antonio Fuentes, a mysterious businessman, who attempts to hire him to oversee a huge rebuilding project in Havana, slated to begin once Castro has departed the scene. Deal has his suspicions, especially after Fuentes offers a check for a million dollars as a retainer. Next to make Deal an offer is Norbert Vines, special agent from the Department of Justice. Vine convinces Deal to go along with Fuentes and report back to the department on what the businessman and his shadowy partners are really up to in Cuba. A few hours later, Deal is on Fuentes's lavish yacht, headed into Cuban waters. Once there, everything goes to hell in short order as it turns out that (surprise!) Fuentes hasn't been entirely on the level. Unsure who is friend and who foe, Deal is blindsided by a bombshell plot twist that will have readers flipping wildly back to the front of the book to see how Standiford pulled it off. From here on in, the action is searing and nonstop, blazing ahead to a satisfyingly violent conclusion. (May 9) Forecast: The murky jacket does the book no favors, but this is above-average Standiford and should keep fans coming back for more. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The world is too much with John Deal, once the very model of a genre swashbuckler (Bone Key, 2002, etc.). He used to deliver his punches and punchlines with maximum panache. But now the Zeitgeist seems to have passed him by. Maybe it's all that white-collar effort put into refurbishing the reputation of the Miami-based construction firm his flamboyant dad founded, then almost ruined. His eighth finds him desultorily finishing up a Key West job, sounding annoyingly Zen-like, when fed-up Fate decides to take a hand. Suddenly, picturesque people are evincing interest in John. Angie Marsh, who sports "matching dimples at her breastbones," kick-starts his libido in a most un-Zen-like way. Then there's the mysterious Antonio Fuentes, dedicated, he insists, to making John a rich man. Impressed by the growing reputation of DealCo, he asks John to travel to Havana with him to research the development possibilities of Cuba-after-Castro-waving about a million-dollar certified check as earnest money. But the entrepreneurial Mr. Fuentes isn't the only mysterious person wanting John to make the Havana run. So does the Department of Justice's enigmatic Norbert Vines, whose pitch turns out to be something akin to patriotism. Are these men precisely as they represent themselves? Is Angie Marsh who she says she is? Will Havana be as welcoming to John as promised? Secret agendas abound, but it all feels so mailed in. Bring back the brio. Agent: Scott Waxman/Waxman Agency

From the Publisher

[A] rock-solid novel...as blunt and powerful as a punch to the head...a bombshell plot twist that will have readers flipping wildly back to the front of the book to see how Standiford pulled it off...the action is searing and nonstop, blazing ahead to a satisfyingly violent conclusion. —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169178296
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/03/2003
Edition description:	Unabridged

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