The Cuban Affair
The Cuban Affair – Nelson DeMille
This is the second book in recent memory that starts with a fishing guide as the opening image, Reincarnation Blues being the first. Third book this year using Florida as a backdrop, Grisham’s Camino Island being the most recent I recall.
“Being captain of your own fate doesn’t mean you always make good decisions.” Page 8.
The set-up is a fishing guide in the Florida Keys is hired for a run to Cuba.
In the civilian world, we say that life is about choices. In the military, we use the word “decisions,” which seem to have more weight, and more consequences, than choices. Page 215.
There is a certain working knowledge of honor around military service that stands proud.
From what I recall, Nelson DeMille has a certain knack for creating wise-cracking American protagonists who are military or ex-military, usually Army, and they have a bitter distrusts of authority figures. There are passages that border on poetic. There are pages that are taut and sinewy, and yet, for all the brilliant craftsmanship, there are times when that snarky profanity sounds like an addled adolescent male.
In the COSTCO preface, he alludes to that bond formed under the pressure of battle, not otherwise present.
The Cuban Affair
While I was reading a digital copy, and that makes it easier to pull quotes, I was too enraptured to do so. Gripping novel, and it didn’t go the way I expected. Excellent pacing, and filled with details. And a wise-cracking protagonist.
In a way, sort of adds a spin on Caribbean and American modern mythology.
With a smart-ass protagonist who would like to be an anti-hero.
The Cuban Affair
Fans of the author will be richly rewarded.
The Cuban Affair
The Cuban Affair – Nelson DeMille
The Cuban Affair: A Novel