Book Review: The Cuban Affair

I’m way behind on my NetGalley reading, but here’s one more from an author I’ve loved, well, forever. Nelson DeMille has an ability to create characters that work on so many different levels, filled with external and internal goals that keep me turning pages and buying new books.

As a result, when the Cuban Affair became available on NetGalley, I grabbed it:

The Cuban Affair–retrieving a treasure left in Cuba after the revolution becomes not only dangerous but romantic

The Cuban Affair

by Nelson DeMille

4/5

In Nelson DeMille’s latest book, The Cuban Affair (Simon & Schuster 2017), a group of Cubans who escaped to Florida during the revolution hire “Mac” McCormack, owner of a small fishing and sightseeing charter boat in Key West Florida to get them to Cuba. Their goal is to retrieve legal papers and $60 million left there by wealthy Cubans fleeing the revolution. The plan is that Mac and the granddaughter of one of the escaped Cubans (Sara) will join a Yale tour of academes that are visiting the newly-reopened Cuba while Mac’s first mate Jack sails Mac’s boat down to the island to participate in a race. That will place him right where Mac and Sara need him when they are ready to flee with the treasure.

Things begin to fall apart immediately when Sara, of Cuban heritage, attracts the attention of Cuban officials as they arrive in Havana. Each step every day, the tension gets worse until Sara wonders if they should simply flee with their lives. Mac, former military with a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts, is not in the habit of ever (ever) fleeing evil. It gets complicated when he realizes he’s falling in love with Sara though she has a boyfriend and they have nothing in common, making the idea of quitting less a strategic decision and more of a personal one.

I have enjoyed every Nelson DeMille book I’ve read and this was no different. It is clever, humorous, with lively characters that constantly intrigue. Although the plot is heavily mixed with background on the Cuban revolution, Cuba’s culture, the deterioration of the country during the Castro era, and the strength of the people, the information comes across as authentic and never boring. I’d recommend this to anyone who wants a virtual vacation to Cuba from the safety of your couch blended with an exciting typically-Demille thriller.

Why 4/5? Did I mention there was a lot of Cuba travelogue? For me, it was too much. For you, it might be just right.

–received free from NetGalley in return for an honest review

View all my reviews

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 20 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning. Read Jacqui’s tech thriller series, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days.