The Island of Mistrust

The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first Nelson DeMille novel I've read. A friend of mine on Goodreads recommended the author.
I like the author's style and his use of wry, macho-like wit to fill out his 'hero' Mac as he works with his small team of anti-Castroists to repatriate "money that rich Cubans stole from poor Cubans so it can be returned to the rich Cubans who stole it.”
Mac was hired because of his military skills but he soon becomes embroiled in an affair with a key team member Sara - an affair that of course complicates the mission and causes Mac to overlook some of the strategic issues of getting $60M in cash and numerous legal documents from a hiding place and onto an escape boat.
The author depicts Cuba as a decaying, crumbling country controlled by the Ministry of Interior who rely on a panoply of spies, finger pointers and informers to feed them information about counter-revolutionaries and CIA-sympathizers. The atmosphere of constant surveillance and distrust is summarized well in the words of Antonio whom Mac believes works as an informer “The Cubans double-cross each other. They sell each other out. They got what they deserve. The hell with their revolutions.”
There are several fun, unexpected twists as the story unravels but the ending is pretty straightforward and predictable.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.

The Cuban Affair



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