Customer Reviews

Havana

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Stephen Hunter has a great knack for country attitudes, good shooting, complex stories and politics.

In "Havana" Hunter captures a moment in time when Castro is just emerging (the Yankees having failed to offer him a $500 signing bonus) and Batista is back in power with the help of the American mob.

Just as in "Hot Springs" where Hunter resurrected the great pre-Las Vegas center of gambling and prostitution (matched in that era only by Youngstown), here he reminds us that Havana in the early 1950s was a city of power seekers, tourist pleasures and American and Cuban mobster domination and corruption.

He weaves together a brilliant Soviet agent, Earl Swagger (hated by the Soviet system for his individuality and protagonist of almost half Hunter's novels), the CIA, the American mob, Fidel Castro and the Cuban secret police into a wonderfully complex and constantly intriguing story.

His characterizations of a young Castro are worth the entire book: "Speshnev looked hard at him and, try as he could, only saw a familiar type, thrown up by revolutions and wars the world over. An opportunist with a lazy streak, and also a violent one... No vision beyond the self, but a willingness to use the vernacular of the struggle for his own private careerism." (p. 101)

"He does carry on don't he? He reminds me of a movie star. They get famous too young and they never recover. They always think they're important." Earl Swagger on young Fidel (p 319)

Whether for fun or learning or both, this is a worthwhile novel.

Stephen Hunter has come a long way since he wrote (and I read) The Master Sniper, perhaps two decades ago. I have to say I wasn't very impressed with that book, and it was some years before I picked up another of Hunter's books, Point of Impact as it happened. I still think that's his best book, though Time to Hunt is also very good, and the rest of his books since then are an improvement over his earlier works.

Point of Impact's hero was a retired Marine sniper named Bob Lee Swagger. After writing several books with him in them, Hunter did several involving Bob Lee's father, Earl Swagger, who's a Medal of Honor recipient Marine who returned to the states and became an Arkansas state trooper. The elder Swagger has been the subject of three novels: Hot Springs, Pale Horse Coming, and Havana, the subject of this review. In all three, Hunter does a decent job of putting Earl Swagger into interesting situations, and then having him shoot his way out of them, but frankly I think Havana to be the best of the three. It spends more time dealing with his character, what makes him tick, and why he is built the way he is, mentally and psychologically.

Swagger is a killer, a fighter who enjoys the finality of a gunshot as a way to solve problems and fix disagreements he has with killers and criminals. In the current entry, he's convinced to trundle along to Cuba with the entourage of a local Congressman who's a wheel in the House of Representatives. Earl of course has to keep him out of trouble in a whorehouse, and when the mob figures out why the Congressman's in town (he's investigating whether mob influence is polluting the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo) Earl has to thwart an assassination attempt. Those fans of Point of Impact, however, will realize that Swagger's not on the island just to protect the Congressman: instead, powerful figures in the CIA want a certain young fiery revolutionary named Fidel Castro killed, and they figure Earl's just the guy for the job.

This scenario sets the stage for what's best about the book: a romp through 50s Cuba with Earl and company. There's an improbably erudite Soviet spy (who sounds much more British than Russian, to me), a clumsy Mafia hitman, several annoying CIA types, and a couple of single ladies for Earl to interact with. All of the plot involving those people plays out in the streets of Havana and Santiago, and in the jungles of rural Cuba, each recreated wonderfully by Hunter.

In case you couldn't tell, I enjoyed this book a great deal, and would recommend it to anyone interested in the era, or to those who want a good suspense novel.

In an afterword, Hunter explains that he got the book from his well known editor, Michael Korda. Korda gave it to him in four words: "Earl Swagger in Havana." This allows Hunter a rich set of characters to draw on, such as Castro and Meyer Lansky. It also allows him to throw Swagger into a multi-sided situation -- the CIA and Cuban government, the gangsters with ties to both the CIA and the Government but pursuing their own interests as well, and the Soviets, with their interests in creating unrest. Castro plays an important role as a bumbling revolutionary with a gift for speechmaking, some courage and not much else (I doubt that this is an accurate picture of Castro). Swagger is brought to Cuba on pretext, as a body-guard for a ridiculous Congressman and his aide -- the real reason is that the CIA wants to have Swagger kill Castro.

What follows is typical Hunter, gun battles with the weapons described in detail; Hunter's odd ability to create tension by describing events out of chronolocial order (you'll read a vague description of what happened, followed by a flashback that shows what actually happened); and Earl Swagger's ability to one-up any man around him. John Wayne would have loved to have played this character.

There's more humor in this book than usual; an argument between between the terrified Congressman and his even more terrified aide when under fire had me laughing out loud. Castro is also a subject for many jokes, although whether this is deserved or not I can't say. Hemingway makes a brief, but disastorous cameo that unfortunately is in keeping with his behavior, particularly at that time.

I find Earl Swagger a more interesting character than his son, Bob Lee, who was the subject of Hunter's first three novels in the Swagger series. Bob Lee was laconic to the point of making Clint Eastwood in his early westerns sound like a chatterbox. Earl is not much more talkative, but our knowledge of his hard life (see Hot Springs) and his desperate hope that his son will have an easier life (of course he won't) gives him more depth than one would expect for a thriller hero. There is also the knowledge that, unless Hunter engages in a major rewrite of history, that he does not have long to live. Hunter killed off Earl Swagger in 1955 in his first appearance, Black Light.

For those who have read other Swagger books, you will find Hunter reusing to good effect a character from prior books. Frenchy Short is back, and is as devious and crooked as ever. He hero-worships Earl but doesn't hesitate to try to have him killed to serve his own purposes. The Congressman who Earl acts as a bodyguard for is Harry Etheridge. At a later point, Etheridge tells Earl that if Earl signs on the CIA their boys can be friends (the chronology on this won't work but Hunter has admitted that to revising the chronology between books). In fact, Etheridge's son will be the cause of Earl's death and will be involved in trying to kill Bob Lee. Finally, a Soviet spy named Pashin has the same last name as a former spy about to become President of Russia in A Time to Kill, but different first name. However, the character in Havana claims to have many relatives in Soviet intelligence, so maybe they are related.

I'm no gun expert, but did spot a couple of small mistakes Hunter makes. Frenchy Short inexplicably switches guns within a few pages -- Hunter is always very specific about the guns his characters carries. Also, a Russian involved in the Spanish Civil War contempously compares Sherman tanks to the German tanks he saw in Spain. Hunter is thinking of the Panther and Tiger II tanks used by Germany at the end of World War II; those used in Spain may have only been equipped with machine guns.

While I gave this book four stars (it would have been 3 and half if Amazon allowed this), I have to wonder what Hunter will do next. A fourth Earl Swagger book will be hard to write; Hunter's done about as much with this character as he can. It may be that he goes to a stand-alone book like Dirty White Boys orginally was (it was later written into the Swagger books in a way that explains the great Lamar Pye's gunfighting skills. Too bad about Lamar; he's my favorite Hunter character of all time). In any event, I look forward to whatever Hunter produces next. He's shown a sure sense when to move on, as he did when he wrote the first real Earl Swagger book Hot Springs, one of his best.

... if you're reading HAVANA, and looking for the good parts, be prepared to be as disappointed as I was.

It's not that Stephen Hunter can't create appealing characters; the 'Russian Spy', Speshnev, is as charming as the title character in "The Jewel Of The Nile". And of course, Earl is admired by all of Mr. Hunter's fans. Unfortunately, in this offering Mr. Hunter works so hard to show Earl as a more complex personality that he (Earl) doesn't seem to coelesce as a defined person. I found myself wishing he would just take the damned drink and bugger off.

And take that boringly idiotic Castro with him.

This work might be considered the second book of a trinary work, defining the period between "Hot Springs" and "Black Light". For those of us who just can't stand NOT to have read everything that Stephen Hunter writes, it's a must-have. You may decide that doesn't mean you have to actually READ it. I bought this at an airport bookstall, and read it all the way from Oregon to Las Vegas, and halfway back. I must admit it was the motivation for a first-time experience: never before have I been able to fall asleep on an airplane.

Stephen Hunter has been one of my favorite authors since his book, The Day Before Midnight, and I've loved all of his Swagger books, particularly those featuring Bob Lee Swagger. However, Hunter's latest, Havana, was a major disappointment to me. The plot - about the CIA's recruitment of Earl Lee Swagger to Havana to assassinate Fidel Castro - is very simplistic and predictable. The characters are poorly developed and one-dimensional, including some real-life people who appear in this book, such as Fidel Castro, Meyer Lansky and Ernest Hemingway. Even Earl Lee Swagger is not as interesting as in Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming. Unlike the non-stop excitement and action that permeates all of Hunter's previous books, the suspense in Havana is much more tepid and very sporadic. Very little in the way of suspense really happens until the last 75-100 pages and even then, as I mentioned, you'll probably be able to predict most, if not all, of what eventually occurs. I know that criticizing this book will probably generate many "unhelpful" votes from Hunter's many fans who are not willing to accept that one of his Swagger books could be deserving of less than 4 stars. However, I'm willing to take this risk since my primary concern is to spare you from - or at least prepare you for - a sub-par performance from Hunter. Hopefully, this review is helpful to you in deciding whether or not you want to read Havana.

Earl Swagger is dead. His death is described in one of Hunter's earlier, and much, much better books. Please, Stephen, let the poor guy rest with dignity.

I am a big fan of Stephen Hunter's previous books. This one is definitely the worst in his impressive run, starting with "Dirty White Boys." The author really needs to find some fresh characters and stories, and not continue to rehash the same old.

The book flowed well, but the main character seemed very uncomfortable in his own skin. Definitely not the Earl Swagger of the previous books, but a twisted carricature of himself, constantly wondering what the hell he was doing in that novel. Uncharacteristically of Hunter, the supporting characters are quite weak and undeveloped. Castro himself is portrayed as a babbling megalomaniac idiot, which, whatever you may think of him, is certainly not the case.

Overall, the book was a dissapointment.

Been wondering why killing Earl in Black Light warranted so much elaborate attention, and was killed the way he was? Well this is why. Just read this book and find out.

Earl is specially selected to carry out a mission in Havana for the CIA. At first its just a exec. protect mission to keep a Arkansas congressman from getting into too much trouble. Which is a lot more trouble than what you might think, especially if this congressman is a drunk and has a penchant for whores. But true intentions are revealed when once again we meet up with Frenchy Short. Seems the CIA doesn't like a certain smooth talking revolutionary, nor do they like the potential threat he poses to Batista's corrupt regime down Cuba way. Which if he's a threat to Batista then he's a threat to American investments in Cuba, both of the legal and illegal varities. With a new gun and some old know how, old Earl's going shake up little ole Havana in a big way.

This is a good one. Besides Hunter's continuation of the Swagger family history, a plus in itself, it is also replete with historical and semi-historical material which brought back memories. In one incident, Gunter sort of "took a shot" at Papa Hemingway--made him out to be a drunken boor--and maybe he was, but I loved Hemingway's writing, and thought better of him. It reminded me a little of what Steinbeck did to the memory of Doc Ricketts, in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. Ir made Steinbeck very unpopular with the people in the MOnterey area that I knew who knew and admired Ricketts.

But, all this is really beside the point: if you are writing about that period in Cuba, and you leave out Castro and Trujillo, you may as well have written about Long Island. He works them in nicely--especially Fidel.

So, this is another great novel from the mind of Stephen Hunter. It is well-written, as are they all, and entertaining, exciting, suspensefull, and makes you come back for more.

Very good. even if he does knock the Navy from time to time.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

I have only recently discovered the work of Stephen Hunter. I was impressed with two earlier novels of his, Black Light and Pale Horse Coming.

I am disappointed with Havana. Here the characters have become caricatures. At times I felt almost like I was reading a comic strip rather than a novel. Dick Tracy meets Batman.

Frankie the New York mob guy seems particularly outlandish.

Minor characters at their moment of crisis are regularly required to foul themselves.

Some of the description seems off. On p. 127 we find, "pink shapes indicating the presence... of pelicans." Pink pelicans in Cuba? Is this some kind of communist pelican? Or has Hunter confused pelicans with flamingos?

Then on p. 135 we find Earl Swagger offering the following philosophical tidbit in the midst of a horrendous machine gun shootout, "Well, in cases like this, teamwork is the best thing." It doesn't sound authentic.

Despite these problems, Havana is still a good read. There are some compelling parts with great action and credibility. Yet overall I find this a very uneven performance for a writer who is capable of much better work.

This is the third in a series of Earl Swagger novels. In Hot Springs, Swagger battles crime bosses in a action packed thriller in which 1940's Hot Springs came alive. It Pale Horse Coming, Swagger battles evil prison guards and brings justice to many long suffering people. In Havana, I'm not really sure what happens.

In Havana, Swagger is sent to Cuba to safeguard a congressman who is taking a trip their. In reality, the CIA wants Swagger to kill Castro. But then there are other story lines: the communist sniper, the mafia hitman Frankie, the Cuban secret policeman, and the mafia. Havana felt like a puzzle that was thrown together haphazardly. Early in the book, each short chapter is dedicated to a different story line, and for the longest time, none of the stories are connected. Its hard to get into a book when you have to start from scratch with each chapter like you are reading a new book.

Another problem with Havana is that the stories are somewhat related, but not all. Usually in a novel, all story lines will meld into one coherent story, but here you have the hitman with the Cubans, the Russian with Swagger, the CIA in the mix. Too much is going on. Hunter does do a great job of bringing pre-Castro Cuba alive, and that alone was worth reading the novel for.

My final complaint is: who is the bad guy. In the last 2 Swagger novels, he clearly knows who is evil and he takes care of them with ease. In Havana, every reader will know that Castro survives, yet 2/3 of the novel is spent chasing after Castro. Only at the end of the novel does a new enemy appear and by then, I don't hate them enough to care for Swagger to kill them. Also, I question Swagger's motives for killing them when it appeared to me there were more evil characters who deserved killing.