Rating: 
Summary: Great Read
Review: If you love Arkady and his unique style of investigation, then the rich detail of Cuban life and politics this book is one gigantic plus. It is a great read. I just wish Mr. Smith would write them faster!
Rating: 
Summary: Read Gorky Park and Red Square Instead
Review: What was pivotal to Gorky Park and Red Square is casually dismissed in the first 30 pages or so of this book. The other novels were, in the end, love stories with a rock-solid backdrop of intrigue. Better this was left as a trilogy. Very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful addition to an excellent series
Review: The writing is, as always, amazing. The characters live and breathe, and I felt I was in Cuba. It did not matter to me if this was a real Cuba. Arkady was once again an outsider, but this time estranged even from himself. This is a book, like the others in the series, that I will read again and savor.
Rating:
Summary: Dense Plot, Turgid Pace Make for Sloggishness
Review: HAVANA BAY is a complete waste of time. Worse, it wastes the vitality of Smith's wonderful creation, Arkady Renko. True, Smith has never been one for pace and fluid plot mechanics, but his latest is so bogged down in uninteresting facets such as Havana's detailed history and a muder investigation with absolutely no immediacy to it that it turns banal and boring, with ridiculous, overreaching delusions of grandeur. The pits.
Rating: 
Summary: A little uneven but still good
Review: Not since Gorky Park has Smith produced a comparable book. Arkady Renko is a great character, the setting of "Havana Bay" is well drawn, and the plot for the most part accomplishes its goals. But maybe it's because of the demise of the Cold War that Renko and these books don't quite have the same mystique, there is something missing now that the old superpower and culural tensions have faded somewhat. But read this book, by all means, and those of you who still secretly long for the old days of global east-west rivalry, read the first book in that new Cold War series everyone is talking about, "The Triumph and the Glory." It has much of the flavor Gorky Park had, except it has a much wider focus.
Rating: 
Summary: A great description of the pathos of Cuba, with plot flaws
Review: Again Martin Cruz Smith evokes the overwhelming feeling of the pathos and chaos of Cuba, just as he did with the Soviet Union. Each character is palpable, although their motivations are a bit confusing. Smiths draws us through the entire book evoking the atmosphere of an economically failing and the hypocrisy of dollar-oriented Cuba, only to lose us at the end in the wrap-up. Just too tidy. Not a political statement.
Rating:
Summary: It was okay
Review: Havana Bay was somewhat of a disappointment. I began reading the book thinking this will be full of neat information concerning Cuba that americans are not aware of. How Castro and his henchmen live and maintain control. How the plot brings into play cuban politics. The setting of this book could have been Ames Iowa. I thought the author passed up a great opportunity to demonstrate how and why Americans should count their blessings.
Rating:
Summary: Something was missing
Review: We all know the usual, there's the spark and unusual air of this book that lingers after you close the book. But something was missing...perhaps...an interesting character?
Rating:
Summary: Renko Does It Again
Review: For fans of Renko (Gorky Park, Polar Star, Red Square) this is another great adventure. Much like the Rostnikov series (Stuart M. Kaminsky)the Russian Police atmosphere and battles with itself is great fun to read about. No other culture could produce the bizarre political atmosphere where Renko and Rostnikov could have had to work and survive. A world where you were more concerned about other's in law enforcement than in your typical criminal. A terrific read.
Rating:
Summary: Great atmosphere, Lousy Plot
Review: First off, let me say I'm a huge fan of Martin Cruz Smith. Loved Gorky Park, loved Polar Star, Red Square, even Rose - which readers avoided like the plague. I bought Havana Bay the first day it came out. What a starting - the first 50 pages are excellent. Especially the expertly told backstory of Renko's lost love. Hats off! Unfortunately the rest of the book doesn't hold up. Here's the reason why. Smith is so interested in describing every nook and cranny of modern Havana that he forgets to fashion a compelling plot. I mean, come on, you only learn what is behind the mysterious goings on ten pages from the end of the book. Answer me this, Mr. Smith, Why does Luna only try once to hurt Renko, then give up? You try and tie this up at the end with an altogether to pat excuse. (Here, I might add it was almost James Bondish the way the feeble villains keep Renko alive to see their masterplan unfold.) And there were too many characters to keep track, especially when their motives are purposefully obfuscated. Still, the rendering of Havana is without compare. God, it must suck to live there! Bring Renko back again, and give him some more life next time. World weary is okay, but comatose?
|
