The Gravedigger's Almanac - Oliver Potzsch

    2021; 400 pages.  Translator: Lisa Reinhardt.  Book 1 (out of 2) in the series “A Leopold von Herzfeldt Case”.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Historical Thriller; German Literature; Historical Mystery.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

 

    Vienna, 1893.

 

    Inspector Leopold “Leo” von Herzfeldt has just joined the Vienna Security Bureau for Blood Crimes.  Think “Homicide Division”.  He’s from nearby Graz, Austria, where he learned his detective skills from the renowned Inspector Hans Gross.

 

    Leo’s been schooled in a new way of investigating crimes; something called “Criminalistics”.  At his first department meeting in Vienna, he uses those Criminalistics methods, along with his Sherlock Holmesian sleuthing talents, to offer helpful critiques of his fellow investigators’ case reports.

    Not all of his colleagues were enthralled by his unsolicited suggestions.  Inspector von Herzfeldt needs to learn to keep his mouth shut at departmental meetings, unless specifically asked for by the Department Superintendent.

 

What’s To Like...

    The Gravedigger’s Almanac is the opening book in Oliver Potzsch’s “Leopold von Herzfeldt” series.  It is set in the closing years of the 19^th century; which is about 3½ centuries after his fantastic “Hangman’s Daughter” series takes place, of which I’ve read three of its seven entries.

 

    The storyline grabs the reader’s attention immediately.  The Prologue opens with a man awakening from sleep and discovering he’s in a coffin that’s already been sealed and buried in the ground.  Who is he and how did he get that way?  A second storyline soon crops up as well—someone has been slashing women’s throats and impaling them in a most grisly fashion.  Inspector von Herzfeldt quickly takes to investigating both of these cases.

 

    I was impressed by the technological advances that had taken place between the two series.  A sample of some mysterious black slime taken from a victim’s corpse can now be sent out for chemical analysis.  And crime scenes can now be recorded via the use of something called a “camera”.  Leo has one and he uses it with an even more newfangled invention, a “flash”.

 

    I liked the character development.  Leo may be a brilliant detective, but he’s quite clueless when it comes to interacting with other humans.  The titular Gravedigger is a walking talking encyclopedia of human interment—he’s writing an almanac—but a complete nutcase otherwise. And Leo’s new boss may be a racial and religious bigot, but he’s also a very skilled detective.

 

    The ending is both exciting and twisty.  Both Leo’s and my theories about who’s doing what skullduggery, and why, were completely wrong.  Help comes from an unexpected source.  An Epilogue ties up most of the plot threads and the sequel (see below) apparently will address the main remaining unresolved one.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 771 ratings and 55 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.00/5 based on 4,170 ratings and 648 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Revenant (n.) : a person who returns from the dead.

Others: Puszta (n.); Bon ton (phrase); Dob (v., British slang).

 

Excerpts...

    Wake: keeping watch at the deathbed until the funeral.  A social gathering with food and drink, sadly often accompanied by excessive alcohol consumption.  Since up to thirty persons gather in the death room, diseases sometimes spread, leading to further wakes and funerals.  (pg. 218)

 

    “Maybe, in another hundred years, people will have to travel out to Walachia; yes, or maybe there won’t be any cemeteries at all any longer.  We’ll burn our dead electrically, press their ashes into cubes and tip them into the sea.  Out of sight and out of mind.”

    “That sounds rather . . . pessimistic, don’t you think?”

    “Gravediggers aren’t known for their optimism.  If you want to cheer and celebrate, go find a midwife.”  (pg. 387)

 

Kindle Details…

    The e-book version of The Gravedigger’s Almanac is priced at $14.99 at Amazon right now.  Its sequel,  The Girl and the Gravedigger, costs $12.99.  The first six volumes in Oliver Potzsch’s “A Hangman’s Daughter” series cost $6.49 apiece; with the seventh one priced 50 cents higher.

 

“I’ve always wanted to die in a grotto with an aristocrat by my side."  (pg. 333)

    The profanity is surprisingly sparse for a Gothic Crime-Mystery; I counted just five cusswords in the first 10% of the book.  But be forewarned, this is not a book for the kiddies.  Beheadings occur, orifices are violated, brothels are visited, rolls-in-the-hay take place, and child molestation is a major theme.

 

    I didn’t notice any typos, nor did I notice any clunky translating.  Kudos to the editors and the translator, Lisa Reinhardt.  The historical setting felt very “real” and was obviously deeply researched.  The Gravedigger’s Almanac probably won’t stir you to take up that profession, but you may find you're qualified to go work at a mortuary.

 

    For me, The Gravedigger’s Almanac was a great read in all aspects: Intrigue, Pacing, Mysteries, Historical Setting, Character Development, Plot Twists.  Its sequel, The Girl and the Gravedigger, is sitting on my Kindle awaiting my attention.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  At one point Leopold teaches his assistant how to set up a darkroom and develop the photographic plates and print the images therefrom.  As a kid, I used to do that with my dad, so that passage brought back fond childhood memories.

The Providence Rider - Robert McCammon

   2012; 516 pages.  Book 4 (out of 10) in the “Matthew Corbett” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Historical Fiction; Colonial America; Thriller.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    New York City, 1703 CE.  Someone is blowing up buildings!

 

    Whoever’s doing it is also painting graffiti on walls next to be exploding buildings.  Actually, the graffiti is rather minimal: just a single name: MATTHEW CORBETT.  It’s logical to suppose that’s the perpetrator, bragging about his crimes.

 

    When Matthew Corbett arrives upon the scene, he’s quite astonished to see his name scrawled on the walls.  He knows he’s not the arsonist, even if others in the crowd are giving him distrustful looks.  He’s more than ready to start investigating the crimes, and an obvious question is already giving him a starting point.

 

    Why is the real perpetrator painting Matthew’s name on a nearby wall each time he blows up a building?

 

What’s To Like...

    The Providence Rider is the fourth book in Robert McCammon’s “Matthew Corbett” now-completed ten-book historical thriller series.  The riddle of Matthew’s name being in close proximity to blown-up buildings is readily solved and Matthew and two companions, Berry and Zed, quickly find themselves on a ship headed for Pendulum Island in the Bermudas.  Several shady characters accompany our heroes in order to make sure they don’t change their minds.

 

    An old adversary is there to greet Matthew when the ship reaches its destination, wanting him to do a sleuthing job, and promising him ample recompense.  I love it when good guys are persuaded to get in cahoots with bad guys.  The book’s title references Matthew’s acceptance of the job; “Providence Rider” is colonial slang for “Problem Solver”.  Not surprisingly, the straightforward assignment rapidly becomes more complex and dangerous.

 

    The Providence Rider is first a foremost a Historical Thriller, with lots of Action and Intrigue infused into it.  Things proceed at a rapid pace, with a bunch of baddies for Matthew to rub shoulders with, a couple of which are beautiful and deadly women.  The 34 chapters average out to about 15 pages/chapter and there are five drawings included which I thought added a nice touch.  Timewise, the story is set in 1703-04 CE, and I’m really loving this historical fiction series because of the rarely used era that it's set in.

 

    Things build to an exciting climax that, with everyone—good-guys and baddies alike— fleeing for their lives.  There are casualties amongst both the white-hats and the black-hats.  The scene then shifts back to New York, where several secondary plotlines are resolved, plus one major romantic one.  The tale closes with a teaser for the next book in the series.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Fearnaught (n.) : a thick, heavy, shaggy woolen overcoat.

Others: Puffet (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 998 ratings and 171 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.24*/5, based on 3,517 ratings and 349 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I may sit?”  Sirki motioned to a chair.  Matthew nodded again, though he was concerned about the chair’s survival.  Sirki eased himself into it and stretched out his long legs.  “Ah.  Now, I’m in . . . how would you say? . . . pig’s paradise?”

    “Hog heaven,” Matthew suggested.

    “Exactly.  Let me show you I have no weapons.”  Sirki lifted his arms, shrugged off his cloak, and patted around his midsection.

    “Do you need any?”

    This time a grin burst forth.  “No, I do not.”

    Matthew reasoned it was time to keep his mouth shut.  (loc. 842)

 

    “You had some trouble today.”  It was a statement of fact, as dry as the fish bones in the skeleton collection.

    “A mite,” Matthew allowed.

    “Hm.  One of my stone seahorses is missing from the library balcony.  Also the curtain cords are gone.  There is—was—a wine bottle on the ledge.  What can you tell me about that?”

    “Nothing.”  Matthew shrugged.  His heart was a furious drummer.  “Much.”

    “You shield your enemies.  Why?”

    “I take care of my own business.”

    “That’s admirable.  Stupid, possibly . . . but admirable.”  (loc. 3941)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Providence Rider sells for $11.99 right now at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series generally range in price from $11.99 to $15.99, with occasional discounts on select e-books, usually to $2.99.  Robert McCammon has other series and standalone novels for your Kindle; they normally range in price anywhere from $2.99 to $11.99.

 

It was a good day, he decided, to not be a ghost.  (loc. 3651)

    I noted 19 cusswords in the first 20% of The Providence Rider, all of them being of the “milder 4-letter words” type.  Later on, there were a couple of f-bombs, plus some references to female dogs and posteriors, as well as one roll in the hay.  There were a couple of typos: assinine/asinine; whether/whither; was/were; and treel-imbs/tree-limbs; but these were sparse enough to not be distracting.  A number of mysterious “Kk” notations popped up between paragraphs, but I suspect this was more the fault of the conversion-to-Kindle software, not the author.

 

    Each character had his/her unique traits, but they were all either “all good” or “all evil”.  I’m partial to "gray" characters, but have to say it was interesting to watch white-hats and black-hats forced to cooperate with one another.  There weren’t a lot of plot twists, although that’s what you hire a Providence Rider to minimize.

 

    Enough of the quibbling.  For me The Providence Rider was a well-written page-turner, with oodles of action, intrigue, and skullduggery jumping up on almost every page.  Next up is The River of Souls, which is on my Kindle, awaiting my attention.  Stay tuned.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  There is a lifesaving scene in The Providence Rider that’s incredibly over-the-top.  It reminded me of an old James Bond movie where Pierce Brosnan jumps out of an airplane in mid-flight over mountains, without a parachute, and ends up somehow deftly skiing up to ski lodge café.  If you remember and enjoyed that Bondian antic, you'll love the one here.

The King's Deception - Steve Berry

   2013; 624 pages (and including a 140-page bonus novella).  Book 8 (out of 18) in the “Cotton Malone” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Thriller; Action-Intrigue; Historical Thriller.  Overall Rating: 8½*/10.

 

    Way back in January, 1547 the English king, Henry VIII, on his deathbed, reveals to his final wife Katherine Parr, that he was a stash of fabulous riches hidden nearby.  More than 450 years have since passed, and nary a trace of that fortune has ever been found.

 

    Several months ago, a British secret agent was pushed to his death onto subway railway tracks.  Security cameras show a teenager at the scene of the crime, holding a flash drive that he pickpocketed from the agent.  MI6 desperately wants that kid taken into their custody, along with that flash drive.

 

    A couple weeks ago, Cotton Malone’s ex-wife disclosed to him that he’s not the biological father of their son, Gary.  It’s done a number on his head.  It did the same to Gary when she told him as well.

 

    The Scottish government is finalizing details to release the convicted Libyan airplane bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, from prison for humanitarian reasons.  Megrahi has very little time to live, due to terminal cancer. The American government has found out, is outraged, and wants someone to talk Scotland out of this release.

 

    Somehow, Steve Berry is going to tie all four of these plot threads together into a Cotton Malone action-thriller.  And maybe throw a bit of crossdressing in, just to spice things up.

 

What’s To Like...

    The King’s Deception follows the tried-and-true Steve Berry thriller formula: a bunch of good guys and bad guys, plenty of plot threads, and an interesting historical setting tied into the present-day mayhem.  The “teams” of white-hats and black-hats get shuffled around here, with some of them changing hat colors along the way.  We know Cotton Malone will come out on top, of course, the fun is figuring out how he’s going to accomplish this.

 

    The book’s title references the codename of a ongoing covert CIA operation in England.  The intrigue starts immediately with Henry VIII's confession, and the action kicks in shortly thereafter in the first chapter.  Most of the story takes place in the greater London area, including nearby Windsor Castle, which brought back pleasant memories of my touring the grounds in the wind and rain there some years back..

 

    The storyline builds to a suitably exciting climax as the various characters, which have been scattered about for most of the story, are all brought together via some fortuitous timing (another Steve Berry trademark).  All the plotlines get tied up; the good guys prevail, the bad guys are vanquished, and some secrets are successfully kept secret.  A heartwarming epilogue closes things out.

 

    My paperback version included a 140-page novella called The Tudor Plot, which takes place seven years before the events in The King’s Deception, and features a bit of an alternate timeline involved none other than King Arthur, which is definitely not the norm for a Steve Berry tale.  There’s also an informative “Writers Note” in the very back, wherein the author lets you know which parts of the historical portions are factual and which are fiction.  We history buffs love that kind of stuff.

 

Excerpts...

    A few hours ago she’d been dispatched to the Inns of Court precisely at the same time Blake Antrim had been present.  Everything had been coordinated, timed with precision.

    Which wasn’t so shocking.

    After all, she was dealing with the Secret Intelligence Service.

    In Middle Hall she’d thought herself a knight or a rook on the chessboard.  Now she carried the distinct feel of a pawn.

    Which made her suspicious.

    Of everyone.  (pg. 166)

 

    “What did Thomas Mathews want with you?”

    “So you know the good knight.”

    “He and I have met.  In a past life.”

    “He told me you were an ex-agent.  CIA?”

    Malone shook his head.  “Justice Department.  An international investigative unit, for twelve years.”

    “Now retired.”

    “That’s what I keep telling myself.  Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be listening.  What’s Mathews’ interest here?”

    “He wants me dead.”

    “Me too,” Ian said.  (pg. 237)

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 3,965 ratings and 1,078 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.99/5, based on 13,987 ratings and 1,211 reviews.

 

“[Stephanie Nelle] said you were once her best agent.”  “I pay her to tell people that.”  (pg. 448)

    The nitpicking is minor.  Cussing is sparse: just 5 instances in the first 40% of the book (185 pages), and those were of the “mild” variety.  I don’t recall any “adult situations” cropping up.  I only caught one typo: sight/site on page 246.

    If you’re not a history buff, the amount of details about the Tudors' long reign as the monarchs of England might get a bit tedious.  And trying to keep track of who's turning into a turncoat for and against whom can be a bit of a challenge.

 

    That’s all I can come up with to gripe about.  Overall, I enjoyed The King’s Deception, for its quick pacing and abundance of both action and intrigue.  This is the tenth Steve Berry book I’ve read, and as usual, was an exciting and informative read.

 

    8½ Stars.  FWIW, there is a brief scene-change early in the book, where we get to travel to Brussels, Belgium in order to be introduced to one of the main characters.  He mentions seeing a famous statue called the Manneken Pis.  I had the opportunity to see it on a business trip years ago.  The statue certainly has a unique pose, and if you're ever in Brussels, be sure to go see it.

Mister Slaughter - Robert McCammon

   2010; 440 pages.  Book 3 (out of 8) in the “Matthew Corbett” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Historical Fiction; Intrigue; Thriller.  Laurels : Goodreads Choice Award for 2010 Mystery & Thrillers (nominated).  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    New York, 1702.

    Everybody already knows Mister Slaughter is a dangerous killer.  The courts in England want him delivered so they can give him a fair trial, and hang him afterward.

 

    Mister Slaughter currently is in the care of a sanitarium in Philadelphia.  New York has been chosen as the seaport that will extradite him to London, and Matthew Corbett and his mentor, Hudson Greathouse, have been assigned the task of taking a wagon to Philly and picking up the prisoner.

 

    They are quite aware of how dangerous this mission is, but it pays well.  Slaughter will be handcuffed, leg-cuffed, and forced to carry a heavy metal ball around that is chained to his shackles.  Matthew and Hudson will work as a team; one will drive the wagon while the other keeps a pistol cocked and aimed at Slaughter.  They can switch positions as needed.  I don’t see any way things can go wrong.

 

    But Mr. Slaughter can.

 

What’s To Like...

    Mister Slaughter is the third book in Robert McCammon’s “Matthew Corbett” historical thriller series, and so far I’ve been reading it in order.  The first two books were very exciting, and this one continues that streak.

 

    Mister Slaughter admits he’s killed frequently in the past, but always for good reason.  He’s aware of the fate awaiting him in London, and offers an alternative “win-win” solution to our two protagonists.  The reader gets to sit in the wagon alongside Matthew and Hudson and weigh Slaughter’s proposal versus directly delivering him to New York for the standard fee.  I love it when the baddie is just as clever and resourceful (if not more so) as the heroes.

 

    There are lots of other plot threads to keep things interesting.  Can Greathouse find enough money to buy a black slave’s freedom?  Does Slaughter really have access to the riches he claims?  What makes “Sutch’s Sausages” taste so mouthwateringly good?  Is High Constable Lillehorne’s wife (and several other women) playing hanky-panky with Dr. Mallory?  Who the heck is Sirki?

 

    The thriller aspect is done well.  I enjoyed trying to figure out Mr. Slaughter's angles, and Robert McCammon wove plenty of excitement and intrigue into the tale to keep my interest.  The historical aspect also kept me turning the pages.  New York City’s population in 1702 included lots of both English and Dutch settlers, since it had been a Dutch possession until about 40 years earlier.  There were also several Native American villages beyond the city limits, which play a key role in the tale, and I loved the attention Robert McCammon pays to realistically presenting their way of life.

 

    The ending was a two-stage affair, the first being suitably exciting and the second being suitably filled with intrigue.  Plot twists were plentiful in both finales.  The book’s main storyline—the fate of Mister Slaughter—is tied up nicely, and the series' main storyline—an earlier death sentence that has been imposed upon Matthew—edges him closer to his demise.  Mister Slaughter is told in the third-person POV, and is a standalone novel as well as part of a series.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Higgler (n.) : a peddler; a person who travels around selling small items.

Others: Bustarole (n.); Ferrago (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.6*/5, based on 790 ratings and 188 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.32*/5, based on 3,993 ratings and 170 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “Said suspect,” Greathouse continued reading, “also charged to stand in connection with the disappearances of Anne Yancey, Mary Clark, and Sarah Goldsmith and the concurrent robberies of their family estates, on or about August 1689 through March 1692, under the aliases of Count Edward Bowdewine, Lord John Finch and . . .”  He hesitated.  “Earl Anthony Lovejoy?”

    “I was so much younger then,” said Slaughter, with a slight shrug.  I had the imagination of youth.”

    “So you don’t deny any of this?”

    “I deny,” came the smooth answer, “that I am a common criminal.” (loc. 1399)

 

    He looked at Matthew and nodded.  “Someday you’ll see your world and not know it, and think it strange . . . monstrous, even.  And you and your Englishmen will yearn for what was lost, and never be able to find it again, for that is the demon’s trick.  To point the way forward, but to close the way back.”

    Matthew ventured, “I suppose that’s called progress.”

    “There is progress,” Walked agreed, “and there is rushing toward an illusion.  The first takes wisdom and a plan, the second can be done by any drunken fool.”  (loc. 3708)

 

Kindle Details…

    Mister Slaughter sells for $11.99 right now at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series range in price from $11.99 to $15.99.  Robert McCammon has other series and standalone novels for the Kindle; they cost anywhere from $2.99 to $15.99.  He also offers several short stories for $1.99 apiece..

 

“But, dear sir, never blame the wind for wishing to blow.”  (loc. 1455)

    It’s hard to find things to quibble about in Mister Slaughter.  The cussing is moderate (12 instances in the first 10% of the book, and at least one f-bomb later on) but not distracting.  Thrillers inherently contain violence, and that is true here.

 

    There were a couple of typos, including Edmond/Edmund, curtsey/curtsy, and everytime/every time, but overall, the proofreading was good.  Annoyingly, there were no page numbers and the “time remaining” estimates were based on the six sections of the book, not the 35 chapters.  And a dog dies.

 

    But I pick at nits.  Based on the first two books, I had high expectations for Mister Slaughter, and it fully delivered.  There's lots of action, lots of intrigue, lots of twists, plus great character development—even for the secondary ones.  The story is capped off by a thrilling finish and a warning to Matthew to never let down his guard.

 

    What more can you ask for?

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  At the back of the book is a short section titled “Matthew Corbett’s World” wherein Robert McCammon details what’s accurate, and what’s inaccurate, in the settings and events used in Mister Slaughter.  I found it utterly enlightening.

Our Man in Havana - Graham Greene

   1958; 212 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: British Humor; Historical Thriller; Intrigue.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

 

    Jim Wormold could use some extra pesos.  He’s a single parent, trying to make ends meet while raising a sixteen-year-old daughter, Milly, who hasn’t quite grasped the concept that money doesn’t grow on trees.  She’s just bought a horse, of all things!  Well, she’s made the first payment, with no idea where to get the rest of the money, let alone how to also pay rent for a stable to house the horse in and hay to feed it.  No problem though, Daddy will surely find a way.

 

    But Daddy is a British national who lives in Havana, Cuba eking out a living in a small shop out of which he sells vacuum cleaners.  It’s the 1950’s and political tensions in Cuba are running high.  There are rebels in the hills (led by some young whippersnapper named Castro), and a bunch of very nervous policemen in the streets, including Captain Segura, aka “the Red Vulture”, who seems to have caught Milly’s eye, and vice versa.  Wormold could use a monetary miracle right now.

 

    Happily, the miracle comes in the form of the British Secret Service, who are looking for an on-the-scene agent in Havana to send them intelligence reports on the volatile local situation.  They’re willing to pay Jim a modest monthly stipend, plus cover any expenses he incurs while gathering information on their behalf.  That includes money he might spend recruiting local Cubans for their help in promoting British interests.

 

    It’s manna from heaven, and Milly gets to keep her horse!  Jim just sends in expense reports for agents who exist only in his head, along with “intelligence reports” covering whatever he can dream up.  In exchange, London sends him back money because, after all, what can they do to check up on him?  Spend lots more money to send someone over to Cuba to audit him?

 

    Funny thing about that, Jim.

 

What’s To Like...

    Our Man in Havana is set mostly in Cuba during the closing days of the Batista dictatorship.  When Graham Greene was writing it, the final outcome was still very much in doubt, and I was impressed with the “feel” for 1950’s Havana that the book conveys.  Revolution may be in the air, but you can still find good booze in bars and fine food in restaurants, get drenched by ocean mist when walking by the shore, and ride horses.

 

    The book delights in poking puckish fun at the British Secret Service.  Graham Greene was an English author, so the book is written in the Queen's English, not American.  There are cheques and pyjamas, things are learnt and smelt, and you manoeuvre your tyres around kerbs.  I even "learnt" a new French phrase, “coup de foudre”, which is translated below.

 

    The writing is witty, and Wormold’s spying scam quickly degenerates into absurd lies-upon-lies.  He tries in vain to keep the deception going for as long as possible, knowing that it will inevitably come crashing down at some point.  Nested in among all the tomfoolery are some keen insights from Greene about nationalism, international relations, the dark business of espionage, and, of course, coups de foudre.

 

    There aren’t a lot of characters to keep track of, and some of them exist only in Wormold’s imagination.  Our Man in Havana is an easy, fast read, with 22 chapters/interludes covering 212 pages.  I learned how to beat someone who’s a better checker-player than you (I suck at checkers), chuckled at Milly’s “invisible duenna”, and never did figure out if the lyrics quoted twice in the book (“they say the earth is round/my madness offends”) are real or just something Graham Greene made up.  I suspect the latter.

 

    The ending is a mixed bag.  On one hand, it's decently clever, and logical.  OTOH, it's not action-packed, twisty, or filled with over-the-top laughs.  More on this in a bit.  Our Man in Havana is a standalone novel.  I don’t believe Graham Greene ever used the setting and characters in any of his many other novels, but to be honest, this was my first Graham Greene book.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Coup de foudre (phrase, French) : a sudden unforeseen event, in particular an instance of love at first sight.

Others: Morocco (n.); Pissoirs (n., pl.), Doss (v.); Verger (n.), Solecism (n.); Huff (v.).

 

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.1/5 based on 944 ratings.

    Goodreads: 3.94/5 based on 27,791 ratings and 1,952 reviews

 

Things that sound dirty, but aren’t…

    What enormous bladders Cubans have, and how clean Hawthorne’s hands must be getting by this time.

 

Excerpts...

    “Why did you set fire to Earl?”

    “I was tempted by the devil,” she said.

    “Milly, please be sensible.”

    “Saints have been tempted by the devil.”

    “You are not a saint.”

    “Exactly.  That’s why I fell.”  (loc. 175)

 

    “One reason why the West hates the great Communist states is that they don’t recognize class-distinctions.  Sometimes they torture the wrong people.  So too of course did Hitler and shocked the world.  Nobody cares what goes on in our prisons, or in the prisons of Lisbon or Caracas, but Hitler was too promiscuous.  It was rather as though in your country a chauffeur had slept with a peeress.”

    “We are not shocked by that any longer.”

    “It is a great danger for everyone when what is shocking changes.”  (loc. 2350)

 

Kindle Details…

    Our Man in Havana goes for $10.99 right now at Amazon, although I picked it up when it was temporarily discounted.  Amazon has a couple dozen other Graham Greene e-books available, ranging in price anywhere from $2.99 to $12.99.

 

“Would the world be in the mess it is if we were loyal to love and not to countries?”  (loc. 3001 )

    There’s just a smattering of cussing (9 instances in the first 50%), a couple racial epithets (that were common in the 1950’s), and one brief reference to drug-smuggling (cocaine, opium, marijuana).  That’s about it for R-rated stuff.  If this were a mystery, I’d say it qualifies as a “cozy”.

 

    My main disappointment with Our Man in Havana was the storytelling.  I was hoping for something exciting, twisty, and absurdly over-the-top.  The storyline was none of these.

 

    This is not to say the book wasn’t enjoyable.  The humor may be light-hearted, but it’s there in abundance.  It was a pleasure to read book set in Cuba where the island’s people are portrayed as being as warm as its climate and as savvy as any foreign agent in their country.  Indeed, my favorite character, besides the protagonist, was the "heavy", Captain Segura.

 

    Oh yeah, one last thing to quibble about. the dog dies.

 

    6 Stars.  A few months after publication, the book was made into a movie and filmed on location in Cuba in early 1959, just a couple months after Fidel Castro took power.  Castro visited the filming and Wikipedia notes that he “complained that the novel did not accurately portray the brutality of the Batista regime”.  Sometimes you just can’t please everyone.