The Havana Room [Audio CD]

Colin Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2003

5 CD Set. Read by Henry Leyva. ART 994.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Audio Renaissance (2003)
• ASIN: B000OUPSJ4
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,044,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not totally successful novel, March 2, 2004

By 

R. H OAKLEY "roboakley" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Havana Room (Hardcover)

If you look at the reviews for this book, you will conclude that it must either be a masterpiece or a waste of paper. It is neither. Harrison has a lot of interesting ideas but does not, in my opinion, totally pull them off. The book is narrated by Bill Wyeth, whose rapid descent from a successful New York real estate lawyer to near bum is covered if the first chapter. Through a terrible mistake, for which he is not responsible, a child dies, and his powerful father uses his power to ruin Wyeth. In quick succession, he loses his job, his wife, and access to his son.

When he has reached the bottom, he wanders into a steak restaurant that seems to be an island of sanity in a world that has turned on him. He develops a crush on the woman who runs the restaurant, Allison Sparks. There is a mysterious room which is invitation-only that fascinates him but to which he cannot gain access. Then one night he is asked by Allison to help her boyfriend, Jay Rainey, close a real estate deal. He does, reluctantly, and as a result, (1) finds himself doing things that, while not clearly criminal, could be and (2) starts being threatened by a series of thugs for reasons he cannot understand. All of this leads him to uncover Jay Rainey's secrets as a way of saving himself.

The obvious influence on this book is the Great Gatsby. Rainey shares a first name (Jay) with Gatsby, an obsession with trying to reclaim the past, and a possibly criminal background. Indeed, Wyeth comes on a list of activities made by Rainey of what to do each day that is almost identical to a list made by Gatsby, although for different purposes. Of course, nothing is what it seems a first or even second glance.

By the end of the book, Harrison is tying up numerous plots, including Rainey's past and future, and the mysterious Havana Room. I found the resolution somewhat forced. Additionally, I often figured out what was happening well before the narrator, which is annoying. The secret of what goes on in the Havana Room was a let-down. And the ending was a little too hopeful for what had gone before.

Nevertheless, this book is not a waste. Harrison is trying to write more than a run of the mill thriller. The use of the Gatsby theme is effective, and the ultimate secrets about Rainey's past are moving. Violence plays a part in the book, but it seemed realistic in that it was not carefully thought out but almost accidental. While the book is not perfectly plotted, it offers the reader interesting characters who, like Gatsby, are pulled back into the past.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, compelling read, April 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Havana Room (Hardcover)

Is there a better novelist crafting well-written, utterly engaging stories about Manhattan than Colin Harrison? I doubt it. He locks you in from page one, dazzles you with superb writing, and fills the pages with daring plot twists. This is a story about a lawyer, who after an accidental mishap, loses his wife, child, career and dignity until he happens to stumble into a midtown steakhouse with a mysterious private room called...you guessed it. This is really a book about losing a child (either through death or divorce), but we're clearly not in Oprah-ville. Some things strain credibility (like how does an unemployed lawyer down on his luck afford lunch and dinner EVERY DAY in a steakhouse?) and the plot gets a little too tricky at times, but it's easy to ignore these faults because of Harrison's huge writing talent which breathes life into his characters and Manhattan. I, for one, couldn't put it down. I wish he would write faster...I can't wait for his next book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Start, April 9, 2004

By 

J. Harrison "stone" (Gainesville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Havana Room (Hardcover)

For the first third of this book I thought I had found one of those magical times when I read slowly to savor the writing and the mood. The characters were mysterious and I could not wait see the unraveling. Unfortunately, things turned very ordinary, even pitiful. Stock character and stereotypes began to act in predictable ways. Ultimately so disappointing.