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Havana World Series (Paperback)

by Jose Latour (Author) "The last day that Angelo Dick spent in Havana, Cuba-October 1, 1958-began in a most auspicious way around 2 A.M., in the ascending elevator cage..." (more)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Phoenix; New Ed edition (2 Jun 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0753818760
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753818763
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,132,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Philip Oakes, LITERARY REVIEW

'Nervy, nail-biting tale ... it's the detail in all parts of the book which makes it so gripping, so painfully authentic.' --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Review

'Nervy, nail-biting tale ... it's the detail in all parts of the book which makes it so gripping, so painfully authentic.' (Philip Oakes LITERARY REVIEW )

'Latour has been billed as the king of 'Cuban Noir' and this dark, action-filled gang-fest proves that he's more than worthy of the crown.' (DAILY RECORD ) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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First Sentence
The last day that Angelo Dick spent in Havana, Cuba-October 1, 1958-began in a most auspicious way around 2 A.M., in the ascending elevator cage of the plush, twenty-two-story apartment building where he lived. Read the first page
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "We're making a bundle. It's too good to be true...", 5 Feb 2004
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Havana World Series (Hardcover)
Billed as a master of "Cuban noir," Jose Latour presents a dark novel of gambling, the American mob, and violence in Havana in 1958, during the presidency of Fulgencio Batista, a friend of mob boss Meyer Lansky. Lansky is deeply involved with the Casino at the Capri Hotel, having made deals with many of the employees, inspectors, and supervisors. Now, during the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Braves, he also expects to rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in bets on the games. A motley group of locals, working for Elias Naguib, a businessman with ties to New York mob boss Joe Bonanno, has been planning a "fool-proof" robbery of Lansky's take, but ironically, the death of Pope Pius XII and the early closing of the casinos "out of respect" on the last night of the World Series changes the timing of the heist, and a bloody mess results.

Tawdry Havana with all its neon tackiness and grubby glamour comes alive here. Corrupt politicians, paid-off police, and mobsters control businesses ranging from prostitution and abortion to the international sugar, jewelry, gaming, and spare auto parts industries. Massive collusion leaves the average citizen powerless to control his own destiny, as Latour recreates the atmosphere which propels Fidel Castro to power a few months after the novel concludes. By alternating Lansky's activities with the play-by-play of each of the six World Series games, the author creates a sense of credibility and realism, and as the bodies pile up, the internecine rivalry among New York mob families adds external complications to the complex internal struggles for influence in Havana.

Latour is an extremely precise, controlled writer who has plotted his novel to the last microdetail, leaving no loose ends, and the novel moves along smartly, despite its complexity. Developing drama and suspense through his careful selection of details and his ability to create a milieu by amassing specifics and piling them upon each other, he allows himself no forays into romantic description or heart-tugging literary pictures. What you "see" here of Havana appears to be presented with almost journalistic impartiality. Complex and exciting in its plotting and fully detailed in its depiction of 1958 Havana, this is a fine novel, bold and masculine in its presentation and full of the violence and uncertainty which presaged Castro's arrival into Havana. Mary Whipple

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