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The Cuban Trilogy #2
Murder in Miami
In the second book in The Cuban Trilogy by bestselling author Noel Hynd, U.S. Treasury Agent Alex LaDuca travels to Miami to continue her investigations into the murder-and-money laundering intrigue set in motion in Hostage in Havana. Caught between the Dosi cartel and cocaine profits, and the surreal and the supernatural ... there's Murder in Miami.
- GenresChristian Fiction
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2012
49 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books220 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 13, 2012
To put it bluntly, I really did not like this book. It seemed to drag on forever and I felt as though I would never get done with it. There were tons of unnecessary details, no character development (this is the fifth book and I still don't really know anything about Alex and her personality.) Since the book is based mostly in Miami, there is a lot of Spanish, but not a whole lot of translation. Which is quite frustrating to someone who doesn't know Spanish! Dialogue was pretty boring and I thought Alex's love interest was pretty lame. I was really missing Ben (the Veteran from the previous books, I don't really remember what happened with him, but I think he would've made a much better romantic interest.) There were a few times I kept hoping the plot would pick up and something interesting would happen, but it felt like even the author didn't know what to have happen and would kill someone else off just for the heck of it.
I don't really know what else to say about this book. I hate having to write such a negative review, because I don't like to be mean; but I just felt like I wasted so much time reading this and I kind of felt cheated by the story. I don't think I will be buying the next book.
Read more of my reivews here!
I don't really know what else to say about this book. I hate having to write such a negative review, because I don't like to be mean; but I just felt like I wasted so much time reading this and I kind of felt cheated by the story. I don't think I will be buying the next book.
Read more of my reivews here!
April 6, 2024
An improvement over the first in the series (3 stars)
This continues a series where Alex is on the hunt for two international criminals, although that is merely the backstory, because the main focus is on intrigue in Cuba and Miami. It's a much more tightly knit story than the first book in the series, and a more interesting plot. Although one drawback is that the novel ends not so much with a suspenseful turn of events, but when Alex explains everything in a lengthy monologue with some of her fellow-characters.
The Christian element is still weak, but an improvement from book #1, and at least there's some mention of church for the first time. Even so, the teenage giddiness of characters over a handsome celebrity is hardly exemplary behaviour for Christians, and that was disappointing. I won't hunt for book #3, but will probably try some of Hynd's other books, which readers seem to rate higher than this series.
This continues a series where Alex is on the hunt for two international criminals, although that is merely the backstory, because the main focus is on intrigue in Cuba and Miami. It's a much more tightly knit story than the first book in the series, and a more interesting plot. Although one drawback is that the novel ends not so much with a suspenseful turn of events, but when Alex explains everything in a lengthy monologue with some of her fellow-characters.
The Christian element is still weak, but an improvement from book #1, and at least there's some mention of church for the first time. Even so, the teenage giddiness of characters over a handsome celebrity is hardly exemplary behaviour for Christians, and that was disappointing. I won't hunt for book #3, but will probably try some of Hynd's other books, which readers seem to rate higher than this series.
November 10, 2025
I picked this up on the bargain shelf at a Christian bookstore, so I had a reasonable expectation of getting a story that was at least clean. Instead one of the big characters is a Santaria practitioner and there are multiple on-page seances. It’s also somehow okay for the practicing Catholic character to carry a voodoo charm in her pocket and to attend and request said seances because she doesn’t think magic is real. Instead of there being anything that points away from the heavy magic, in the end the MC and her new boyfriend discuss faith and admit they have many doubts.
The author compares himself to Robert Ludlum but it wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as Bourne. Heavily overwritten and with action beats that have no clear ties to the story until much later (if you can even remember them after 300+ pages).
The author compares himself to Robert Ludlum but it wasn’t anywhere near as interesting as Bourne. Heavily overwritten and with action beats that have no clear ties to the story until much later (if you can even remember them after 300+ pages).
February 27, 2025
Who is killing the fringe people around Little Havana in Miami?
The tips coming in to Cen Fin are just too fragmented to make sense of until Alex LaDuca starts to play the right international strings.
The tips coming in to Cen Fin are just too fragmented to make sense of until Alex LaDuca starts to play the right international strings.
March 21, 2020
3.5 stars It was nice to continue the story from book one, Hostage in Havana, but sometimes the plot moved along slowly. I'm looking forward to reading the next book on the series.
July 26, 2025
Slw moving in the first half - will need to complete the trilogy to finish the overall plot line
March 8, 2013
Federal agent Alex LaDuca, who investigates financial crimes, is on the trail of international criminals, the Dosi cartel, who most recently made a failed attempt on her life. Using an assumed name, she’s about to meet with a Cuban refugee who can provide her with a valuable list of names, when the man winds up murdered. At his funeral in Miami, Alex is approached by a Santeria priestess who wants to talk to her, but then is very difficult to track down. The local cops refuse to help, and in fact, the officer investigating the murder hates federal agents on principle. Alex gets called back to her base in New York where she runs into her new neighbor, a famous actor who asks her to lunch. She isn’t sure she’s ready for another relationship so soon on the heels of her fiance’s murder, but she’s definitely attracted. Evidence in the case causes Alex to return to Miami again, and she must juggle her burgeoning love life, the dangers inherent in investigating a powerful crime cartel, and her questions of faith in the wake of her fiance’s death.
I found Alex to be a likeable and believable character, and the story was decent, if a bit convoluted, but this book simply meandered along too slowly to truly hold my interest. Every waking moment of Alex’s life seems to be recorded here, along with every detail in every situation. A lot of it was superfluous to the plot and just not necessary, dragging the pace to a crawl. The religious aspects were minor, and along with being unnecessary, fell flat for me. Alex is religious, but not particularly spiritual. In all, the book was readable but seriously needed to pick up the pace. I’m sure Alex LaDuca fans could enjoy the latest installment of her adventures, but this one moved far too slowly for my taste.
I found Alex to be a likeable and believable character, and the story was decent, if a bit convoluted, but this book simply meandered along too slowly to truly hold my interest. Every waking moment of Alex’s life seems to be recorded here, along with every detail in every situation. A lot of it was superfluous to the plot and just not necessary, dragging the pace to a crawl. The religious aspects were minor, and along with being unnecessary, fell flat for me. Alex is religious, but not particularly spiritual. In all, the book was readable but seriously needed to pick up the pace. I’m sure Alex LaDuca fans could enjoy the latest installment of her adventures, but this one moved far too slowly for my taste.
December 13, 2013
Between midnight and dawn most people are dead to the world, others are just dead.
The 2nd book in Noel Hynd's The Cuban Trilogy brings Federal Agent Alexandra LaDuca to Miami.
Sent by the US Treasury department, she's heading down there to talk with a recent Cuban defector who claims to have the names of some key players that could help Alex in her attempts to bring down the Dosi cartel. When she arrives though, things aren't all as they seem. Alex quickly comes to realize that this specific key player may not be as key as people originally thought. There's more going on than meets the eye and Alex is going to have to work hard to discover it unless she wants to end up in the grave.
Alex is in for another wild adventure as she investigates murder in miami. While there, she has to navigate unfriendly police officers, stonewalling CIA agents, and figure out what the mysterious woman who claims to have a connection to the spirit world wants. Back home, Alex has to battle the FBI as they attempt to dig into her relationship with the former mob boss Yuri Federov and make something out of nothing. She also has the possibility of romance on the horizon in the form of a handsome actor living downstairs from her.
Still trying to get past the tragedy of losing her fiance, Alex questions whether or not she can actually discover God's plan for her and come through this with both her life and her faith intact.
If this is your first introduction to Alex, I highly suggest that you start with "Hostage in Havana" as it is the first one in this specific trilogy. It's even better if you go all the way back to the beginning and start with "Conspiracy in Kiev" which is the first book in The Russian Trilogy.
Can't wait to read the next book!
The 2nd book in Noel Hynd's The Cuban Trilogy brings Federal Agent Alexandra LaDuca to Miami.
Sent by the US Treasury department, she's heading down there to talk with a recent Cuban defector who claims to have the names of some key players that could help Alex in her attempts to bring down the Dosi cartel. When she arrives though, things aren't all as they seem. Alex quickly comes to realize that this specific key player may not be as key as people originally thought. There's more going on than meets the eye and Alex is going to have to work hard to discover it unless she wants to end up in the grave.
Alex is in for another wild adventure as she investigates murder in miami. While there, she has to navigate unfriendly police officers, stonewalling CIA agents, and figure out what the mysterious woman who claims to have a connection to the spirit world wants. Back home, Alex has to battle the FBI as they attempt to dig into her relationship with the former mob boss Yuri Federov and make something out of nothing. She also has the possibility of romance on the horizon in the form of a handsome actor living downstairs from her.
Still trying to get past the tragedy of losing her fiance, Alex questions whether or not she can actually discover God's plan for her and come through this with both her life and her faith intact.
If this is your first introduction to Alex, I highly suggest that you start with "Hostage in Havana" as it is the first one in this specific trilogy. It's even better if you go all the way back to the beginning and start with "Conspiracy in Kiev" which is the first book in The Russian Trilogy.
Can't wait to read the next book!
May 21, 2012
I thoroughly enjoy Noel Hynd's books. Suspense, intrigue, action, a little romance and Godly principles. I don't have to worry about the language or questionable ethics in the heroine. I'm not sure where the book is going most of the time, so I keep reading, eyes riveted on the page to find out how it's going to turn out. One comment for this novel, compared to previous novels I have read, is that there was more of the truth hidden in the heroine's mind not revealed to the reader, than in the past. A little too Agatha Christie for my tastes. But on the whole, a delightful read!
September 8, 2015
This book was hard to get into at first. I had to restart several times before I forced myself to keep reading past page 25 or so. Once I did, it was an enjoyable spy type novel and I'm curious to see how it fits into the series. At least with this once, I went in knowing that it was part of a series, but it still seemed like characters, setting, and events were adequately described without having knowledge of other books in the series.
January 26, 2015
Very good series. I'm looking forward to the third book in the series.
May 3, 2015
The Cuban Trilogy cannot hold a candle to The Russian Trilogy. This one just seemed to go on and on, and was not very interesting. Hopefully the third book will pick it back up.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews