Havana: A Swagger Family Novel
Written by Stephen Hunter
Narrated by William Dufris
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
High summer in Cuba, 1953, and Havana gleams with possibility. Flush with booming casinos, sex and drugs, Havana is a lucrative paradise for everyone from the Mafia, Domino Sugar, and United Fruit to pimps, porn-makers, and anyone looking to grab a piece of the action—including the Cuban government, which naturally honors the interests of its old ally, Uncle Sam.
Of course, where there's paradise, trouble can't be far behind. Trouble, in this case, makes its entrance in the terrifically charismatic and silver-tongued form of a young revolutionary named Fidel Castro. The Caribbean is fast becoming a strategic Cold War hub, and Soviet intelligence has taken Castro under its wing. The CIA's response is to send the one man capable of eliminating Castro: the legendary gunfighter and ex-Marine hero Earl Swagger, who proved his lethal talent in the national bestsellers Hot Springs and Pale Horse Coming.
In Cuba, Earl finds himself up to his neck in treacherous ambiguity where the old rules about honor and duty don't apply, and where Earl's target seems to have more guts and good luck than anyone else in Cuba.
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter is the author of twenty novels and the retired chief film critic for the Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism. His novels include The Third Bullet, Sniper's Honor, I, Sniper, I, Ripper, and Point of Impact, which was adapted for film and TV as Shooter. Hunter lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
More audiobooks from Stephen Hunter
Dirty White Boys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bullet Garden: An Earl Swagger Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Basil's War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tapestry of Spies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Master Sniper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I, Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bibliomysteries Volume 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Saladin Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Havana
Titles in the series (3)
Hot Springs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pale Horse Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Havana: A Swagger Family Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
Burke's Revenge: Bob Burke Suspense Thriller #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Horseman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whisper Who Dares Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Full Assault Mode: A Delta Force Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Close Quarters: A Breed Thriller Book 4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Time to Kill: A Sniper Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Under Siege Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reaper: Drone Strike: A Sniper Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Zone: A Sniper Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Killer Force: A Delta Force Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warlord Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warning of War: A Novel of the North China Marines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Minotaur Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outlaw Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEasy Day for the Dead Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Death Trust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Lie: John Winter Book 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSundown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Shot: A Sniper Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fool's Errand Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Skystorm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cuba Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SEAL Team Six Outcasts: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Site: A Delta Force Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Liberty's Last Stand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Open Season: A Breed Thriller Book 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reaper: Ghost Target: A Sniper Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Firefly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Suspense For You
The Silent Patient Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: a completely gripping psychological suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Teacher Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Flicker in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Guest List: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Kind Worth Killing: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stillwater Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Know You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Then She Was Gone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Holly Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wrong Place Wrong Time: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Missing Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Thing He Told Me: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fool Me Once Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Turn of the Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Night She Disappeared: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright Young Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Misery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Green Mile Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Havana
89 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Awesome historical fiction of a fascinating era and fantastic people
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Earl Swagger is Bob Lee's father, He is an Arkansas state trooper and an ex- Marine hero and winner of the Medal Of Honor. Earl has been recruited by the CIA and has gone to Cuba in 1953. His job -- kill Fidel Castro. There are many people in Cuba interested in Castro. The Batista government, of course, Meyer Lansky and the mob, the CIA, and Russian intelligence. Castro is pictured as a naive, romantic, revolutionary who needs to be hardened. A Russian agent, who has been released from the Gulag is the man who will toughen up Castro.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Enjoyed it in parts, got bored in others. Definitely not as good as the first two in the series.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5In Havana, Earl Swagger has been given the task by the US government to accompany a corrupt American politician as his bodyguard as he investigates criminal activity in Cuba. The politician goes about taking part in all of Havana’s illegal activities instead of trying to stop it. One of the characters in this book is Meyer Lansky, who is running Mafia led activities in Cuba. Swagger gets involved in a plot to kill a young Fidel Castro, who is threatening American interests in the country.Just about every aspect of this novel is completely preposterous. It’s hard to even take the book seriously. The story line is far-fetched. The characters are poorly drawn. The writing is subpar. There was nothing about this novel that I liked. I would highly recommend avoiding it like the plague.Carl Alves – author of Blood Street
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cliches and stereotypes mingle, clash and erupt in several bloody massacres. Still, a lively tale set in Havana in the fifties and Caso's early days.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Earl Swager historical novel on 1950s Havana Cuba and the early days of Fidel Castro. The research done on this period is very good and the characters were believable. Was this the true charaterastion of Cuba then? I believe so. the plot was very good and and the story line was exciting and intersesting.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I had bought this audio book because I wanted to learn something about Cuba and I wanted to explore some new mystery series, try out Stephen Hunter, the author, and Earl Swagger, the character. After I got into it, I really liked it. Some reviewers are complaining about the characters being caricatures, but I think that was the point, as in Carl Hiassen's Florida caricatures, I mean, characters. I enjoyed the humor, and of course, I liked Earl, the man of integrity in a setting where there sure wasn't much of that. The best of all was the Russian Agent -- a marvelous character! Every time he appears, the book shines. Learning about Cuba, not so much.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not a bad read, but he made caricatures of the main characters. The hero, Earl Swagger, was such a hero - good, faithful, loyal. The bad guys were so vile, dumb & almost comical, in some cases. It was just over the top. The basic story was kind of interesting; Cuba before Castro took over. At the end of the book are two short articles that Hunter did after researching the area for his book. For those fans of Bob Lee, we find out why he learned to shoot so well. If you haven't read any other books, Bob Lee Swagger, Earl's son, is the hero in several others, one of the best snipers in the world. I really liked a couple of these books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Set in Cuba at the time of Castro and the reviolution. Well-written, exciting and imaginative.