8) Spy's Fate

Original Title: Spy’s Fate
Turkish Title: Havana’nın Sıcak Yazı
English Title: Spy’s Fate
Author: Arnaldo Correa
Pages: 437
Rating: 4/5
Applicable Challenges: 50 Books A Year, Support Your Local Library

WHY THIS BOOK?

It is not really a hard decision for me to take when I’m trying to decide what to borrow from my company’s library. I didn’t have any idea about the book or the author but the word “Havana” in Turkish translation was interesting/exotic enough for me.

THE STORY:

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Carlos Manuel, a Cuban intelligence agent, returns from Africa to Havana to find everything changed. His wife has committed suicide, his three children have become strangers to their father, the country's economy is in trouble, and he is unemployed and homeless. When his kids decide to embark for the United States on a simple raft, Carlos Manuel follows to protect them. The CIA, learns that a high-ranking Cuban intelligence agent has defected but can't find him. In time, the FBI, the CIA, and the Cuban Ministry of the Interior Affairs all start pursuing Carlos Manuel.

The author, Arnaldo Correa is considered as one of the founders of Cuban crime-fiction genre. Correa is a veteran Cuban author who worked in development projects in Cuba, Vietnam, Angola, and Mozambique.

MY COMMENTS:

It has been quite some time since I read a spy book and I hesitated a bit before borrowing it from the library. When I started reading it, I really liked the flow of the story, the details embedded between the lines, the creativity of Correa and the smartness of the main character. I know that I wouldn’t like it this much if it was a movie. I’d have definitely thought it was an ordinary spy movie. However, it’s all different with the book. I was so impatient to reach the final that we had to order pizza for dinner on an evening I was supposed to cook.