Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't anyone edit Hunter's books?
Review: I deeply regret spending $26 on such a trite story. All the raw material was there--Swagger, the Russians, the CIA, Castro, Havana--but, this time, Hunter didn't have the interest or energy to meld it into a real novel. Havana is a comic book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great story but Hunter needs to move on
Review: I have an idea for his next novel. How about an elite German Army sniper in the closing days of the Battle for Berlin who manages to hold off half the Red Army while succeeding in helping the real Adolf Hitler escape to South America? That would be one hell of a story!
Rating:
Summary: Havana by Stephen Hunter: Audio Book
Review: I have been a big fan of Stephen Hunter novels for several years. Most of them I've listened to as audio books. The dialog and voice characterizations by Beau Bridges have always been superb and the plot riveting. However, for the audio book Havana, Stephen Hunter must've been asleep at the wheel! The dialog is inane, uninspired and unimaginative. I don't know whether Stephen Hunter wrote the audio book dialog or if it was transcribed by another but it is pitiful. William Dufris as the reader does a poor job at best of voice characterizations and only shows glimpses of getting it right. Castro is portrayed as a whiney and unintelligent buffoon. I can't even begin to think why Hemingway was even mentioned in the book. Frankly, it was a chore to get thru it(unlike all the others which were superb). I hope that Beau Bridges is brought back to read these books again and Stephen Hunter throws himself back into his work. I would have to imagine that the hardback version of the novel is better but I would not recommend the audio book.
Rating:
Summary: Caricatures Instead of Characters
Review: I have only recently discovered the work of Stephen Hunter. I was impressed with two earlier novels of his, Black Light and Pale Horse Coming.I am disappointed with Havana. Here the characters have become caricatures. At times I felt almost like I was reading a comic strip rather than a novel. Dick Tracy meets Batman. Frankie the New York mob guy seems particularly outlandish. Minor characters at their moment of crisis are regularly required to foul themselves. Some of the description seems off. On p. 127 we find, "pink shapes indicating the presence... of pelicans." Pink pelicans in Cuba? Is this some kind of communist pelican? Or has Hunter confused pelicans with flamingos? Then on p. 135 we find Earl Swagger offering the following philosophical tidbit in the midst of a horrendous machine gun shootout, "Well, in cases like this, teamwork is the best thing." It doesn't sound authentic. Despite these problems, Havana is still a good read. There are some compelling parts with great action and credibility. Yet overall I find this a very uneven performance for a writer who is capable of much better work.
Rating:
Summary: No "swagger" in this one
Review: I knew better than to buy a book when you know how it ends.We know Earl can not kill Casto, so what's the point?
This book limps along with plenty of filler to get us in the mood for Havana when Castro was getting weened.
Since the end of the plot is a given it is difficult to turn the pages.
I have read every Hunter book and enjoyed them. Save your $$ on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: This Marvelous Novel is Chockfull of Unforgettable Sentences
Review: I normally don't care to quote passages from the books that I review for Bookreporter.com. I'm always afraid of giving something away, or having it make little sense out of context, or (the most likely occurrence) making a mistake in the transcription. There is a passage in HAVANA, Stephen Hunter's new novel, that blew away all such reservations and resistance, and that illustrates perfectly why, when this man publishes a new novel, all other activity at casa de Hartlaub ceases until the tale is read from cover to cover. This particular paragraph is found near the end of the book, an unforgettable collection of sentences in a novel full of them: "It is 4 a.m. on Zanja Street, the hour of Odudua, the dark mistress of the underworld according to the cosmology that is Santeria. Odudua is married to Obatala, whose job is to finish creation; hers is to destroy it. As you might imagine, it is not a happy marriage. So she wanders alone at night, deciding who to take." In these sentences, Hunter sets up the carnage that is to follow and at the same time presents a cosmic rationale for what has gone before, providing the reader with some inside knowledge in the bargain and getting the job done with some unforgettable prose. Hunter writes prosaically of death; his protagonist, Earl Lee Swagger, is a walking contradiction, a man capable of great and terrible violence yet who is not a violent man by nature. He simply does that which must be done, and frequently is called upon to do it. HAVANA is set in 1953, when the island of Cuba is the subject of business interests, legitimate and otherwise. A young would-be revolutionary named Fidel Castro has attracted the interest of the right and wrong people, and it is decided by some that he should be done away with as an example. Others, however, feel he should come under their protection. Swagger is recruited as the bodyguard for an Arkansas congressman who is traveling to Cuba, ostensibly on a fact-finding mission. This duty results in Swagger being dropped as unwitting chum into a choppy diplomatic ocean, aware of his duties on the surface but unaware of his real purpose in Cuba. In actuality, Swagger has been brought to Cuba to assassinate Fidel Castro before the young firebrand attracts too much of a following. When events take an unexpected turn, however, Swagger finds himself stranded in a land he doesn't know, with nothing but his wits --- and the unexpected honor of a worthy adversary --- to see him through. Hunter continues his practice of placing Swagger within a historical setting and letting each play off of the other. Swagger's meeting with Ernest Hemingway, which takes little more than a page to relate, is worth the price of admission alone. Hunter's attention to detail makes the Havana of the 1950s come alive. His style is interesting; he can be extremely funny at times, but when describing Swagger his tone is unrelentingly grim, and appropriately so. The contrasts, the change-ups, help move the story along (not that it needs such assistance). Hunter continues to expand the Swagger mythos with HAVANA, further developing his character while keeping him true to what has (recently) gone before. I cannot wait for what is to come. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: An excellent entry in the Swagger family saga
Review: I really enjoyed this novel a great deal, as I have all of Hunter's novels about the three generations of Swagger gunmen. It seems that Mr. Hunter is improving with age and his prose gets better and better. My two favorite Swagger titles so far have been this book and Hunter's last one, Hot Springs. What makes this book good is, of course, Mr. Hunter's powers of description of scenes involving gunplay . The reader can really feel the percussive blast of gunfire and hear bullets pang off metal. What sets this author apart is that he combines great authenticity regarding firearms without going into geek detail about weaponry. I can't think of a current mainstream author that can come close to Hunter for firearm knowledge, but the general reader need not beware. There will be no blur of calibers, model numbers, or military abbreviations in his work, or just enough to make things real. Also, the characters in this novel are well drawn and very interesting. Speshnev, the Russian agent in Cuba is a particularly good creation. He is a thin, grey haired man who can realistically pose as a vacuum cleaner salesman (which he does)until there is some hard, dirty work to do, whereas he transforms into a very effective professional. There is something almost flippant and poetic in his nature that makes him even more disarming. For those of you who have read Hot Springs, the character Frenchy Short returns as a CIA agent, as smart and hungry as ever, loyal only to his own overwhelming hunger for power. Finally, I found the scenes involving Bob Lee Swagger and his Father, Earl Swagger very touching. Hunter does a good job in describing a son's overpowering need to get love from a father and all the small things that shape a boy into a man.
Rating: 
Summary: Trying to hard
Review: I've been reading Hunter for years and this is the first time I've been disappointed by one of his books. There's just to much cute about the characters and what they say and do. I especially found Short and Speshnev to be below his usual standards. As a film critic Hunter should know better then to write about "B Movie" characters. Most appalling was his portrayal of Meyer Lansky. Meyer was a gangster, not some ones
wise old granddad. (Note to SH.. Lansky would never call anyone a "schmata" a rag, he'd call him a "gonif" which is a crook.)
It was a poor end for a great series.
Rating:
Summary: Trying to hard
Review: I've been reading Hunter for years and this is the first time I've been disappointed by one of his books. There's just to much cute about the characters and what they say and do. I especially found Short and Speshnev to be below his usual standards. As a film critic Hunter should know better then to write about "B Movie" characters. Most appalling was his portrayal of Meyer Lansky. Meyer was a gangster, not some ones
wise old granddad. (Note to SH.. Lansky would never call anyone a "schmata" a rag, he'd call him a "gonif" which is a crook.)
It was a poor end for a great series.
Rating:
Summary: Not His Best, But Still Worthwhile
Review: I've read them all and was really looking forward to this one -
Havana in it's heyday, Lansky, Batista, Castro, the CIA, and of course Earl - probably one of the most righteous dudes in all of
bookworld! I tracked this book for months, and couldn't wait. Well, they're here ok, and it's an interesting story, especially with the interface of the CIA and Russians - but it lacks the passion, excitement, and intensity of his previous 'smashes'. Give yourself a treat and pick up 'Hot Springs', or 'Pale Horse Coming'. Then after you have totally loved 'em, you're ready for 'Dirty White Boys'. And you'll understand what I said about Earl!
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