Havana Passage Reviews
Setting: Washington, Miami, and Havana a few years hence. Gordon and Kate accept a mission for the President and go to Havana under the guise of collecting evidence on a case. The secret mission is proceeding as the President and Gordon planned until Santiago shows up back in Havana on orders from Carlos the Orphan in Miami. Santiago’s presence lights the fuse to an explosive showdown over the direction Cuba’s government will take, as Hugo Chavez in Venezuela moves to shore up the Cuban regime.
January 24th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
used reviews…
Where did you learn about the ideas in What is a trackback? | BabyfacE?…
December 28th, 2008 at 6:20 am
spirit of new york cruise…
Well spoken. I have to research more on this as it is really vital info….
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
American History Aztec Gods American History X…
I didn’t agree with you first, but last paragraph makes sense for me…
July 9th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Cuba Vacation Reviews…
Recently I took a trip to the Bahamas and used some of your advice. Cheers….
December 16th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
What did you like about this book? I felt the characters were well drawn, and the plot was great
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning “poor” and 5 meaning “excellent”:
Character development: 4
Grammer: 41/2
Cover design: 5
Washington, D.C. July 4,2006
I read your book on the way over here and I absolutely loved it. Seriously, it is exactly what I look for in a good book. Excellent character development, fast moving, well researched, and I learned a lot.
New York, NY–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–October 11, 2005–In his book, Havana Passage, author and international lawyer Jay Lillie lifts the veil on Cuban political propaganda in the United States. His portrayal of the issues—from both the American and Cuban perspectives—dispels myths, challenges the status quo, and presents readers with a cast of alluring, intelligent, and courageous characters.
A novel set several years in the future, the United States’ first female President has taken office with a mission to make some changes. Her sense of history indicates that the time for political change in Cuba has come, and she astutely perceives it to be vulnerable.
Not everyone in Washington shares the new President’s willingness to become proactive in Cuban/American affairs. To test her perceptions about the political climate in Cuba, she covertly sends her most trusted private advisor, Gordon Cox, on a secret reconnaissance mission to Havana. A seasoned, high-powered Washington attorney, Cox has recently taken on representation of an American fishing boat captain who was arrested by the Justice Department for porting and trading in Cuba. This case presents Cox and the President with the perfect guise for investigation of the larger issues at hand.
Joining Cox on his mission is a young, beautiful, Spanish-speaking associate named Kate Stevens. Together, the two take on the highly charged environment and match wits with one of the most clever and ruthless adversaries Cox has ever confronted. Gordon and Kate bond in their isolation from Washington, and they succumb to the seeds of an attraction that fully blooms in romantic Havana.
The readers’ eyes and ears to the agendas of persons in Havana and Miami take shape in the character of Santiago deChristo, a Cuban Key West resident and ex-bodyguard of Fidel Castro. When he sneaks back into Havana on his own assignment, his alliance with Kate steers the plot around sharp corners and into surprising revelations of American and Cuban foreign policy. Havana Passage feeds on the spirit and aptitude of ordinary Cuban people living on both sides of the Florida Straits.
Readers are given a guided tour through the adventures of a lawyer whose client is the President of the United States, along with a glimpse at a Cuba without Fidel Castro.
Havana Passage is only available in English at this time.
December 12th, 2006 at 12:26 pm
I took this book on the cruise, but didn’t have as much chance to read it as I had hoped. Ended up finishing it during my daily commutes. While, as I state in the review it reminded me of the similar PATRIOT TRAP I reviewed a few weeks ago, it was a decent read if you don’t go all political about this type of thing.
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HAVANA PASSAGE by Jay Lillie
Published by Ivy House Publishing Group
ISBN: 1571974520
With the end of the Cold War writers of thriller/suspense novels have had to search for a new foe for their heroes to confront. International drug cartels just don’t cut it anymore, so since 9/11 various Islamic nations or ‘terrorist’ groups have become the main focus.
While the last few Communist nations (China & North Korea, for example) can still cast their evil shadows over the U.S. and their allies, it really amazes me that some authors seem to let their gaze wander only ninety miles from our shores.
In the past few months this is the second book I’ve reviewed in which the main character and his/her companions are threatened by elements in Cuba. In both, the chief protagonist ends up in Havana, caught between parties attempting to overthrow the Castro government or attempting to gain power when the current regime ends with Fidel’s passing. Also, oddly enough, in both novels the characters at some point are escaping from Cuba by boat only to be caught off the Florida Keys in approaching storms or hurricanes. I guess this happens more frequently than you’d think.
When a fishing vessel is stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of Cuba, it is discovered that one of the men aboard is without documentation. When the boat’s owner is arrested and his boat confiscated this triggers a series of events which brings together law student Kate Stevens, Washington D.C. lawyer Gordon Cox and the first female President of the United States. The President, looking to end the decades old trade embargo, sends Kate and Gordon (who at one time dated Kate’s mother) to Havana in order to discover what the reaction might be to such a decision. The lawyers find that things are much more complicated than they appear with angry Cuban exiles on one side and a possible coup by Army officers on the other. Add to this mix the mysterious Santiago deCristo, a one time member of Castro’s elite guard who has his own reasons to return to his native land.
Writer Lillie brings an old fashion feel to his book, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a fast read, ideal for vacation reading. The author throws in the occasional sexual detail and “F” bomb, but it feels as if he is doing it more to appeal to a section of readership who want that sort of thing, rather than something which comes naturally. While the character of the President never rises above reminding me of Geena Davis in COMMANDER IN CHIEF, Lillie brings enough life to the rest of his cast to pull the book up a notch from similar fare.
Three stars
December 1st, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Couldn’t put in down - it is terrific. I think you have hit a home run.
November 26th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I was cracking up when Lefty ended his meeting with Kate the first time. This is great stuff. This is a big deal what you’ve done here.
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I’m enjoying a story that has a lot of moving parts linked together by clever chance, circumstances, acts of God, etc. It’s also great the way you make the people come alive (you fell in love with Kate too, I know), as you make the reader. The other characters come alive too and you let the reader get to know some of them in perfect doses.
November 12th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I enjoyed it very much, and I will be recommending it to others. It is a good, timely topic and setting and a great story.
November 11th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
The novel was wonderful! There were no dull or slow moments in the reading and I liked the way you keep the reader up to speed on all aspects of what is going on in all the differnent situations. I felt like I was there.
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:28 pm
ABC/TV: “Havana Passage is a fictional book which features an intelligent and fearless president who takes the risk of losing the Cuban/American vote in South Florida, and ushers in a very satisfactory conclusion to the “Cuban problem.
October 31st, 2006 at 12:28 pm
CUBA NEWS: “Another thriller about the end of Communist rule in Cuba has hit the book-shelves, this one by international lawyer and novelist Jay Lillie. . . In this timely work, Lillie lifts the veil of propaganda, destroys a few myths and portrays the Cuban people in revolt. The Havana in which much of this story takes place is accurately depicted.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
CUBA CRUISING NET: “HAVANA PASSAGE, international lawyer Jay Lillie’s debut novel, is not just a smart book but a profoundly optomistic one as well. . . smart because it manages to entertain while dramatizing the complicated forces shaping Washington’s relationship with Havana - a perverse synergy that has denied one of the world’s most unspoiled cruising grounds to North American mariners . . . a tale of more or less ordinary folks buffeted by forces that are as mysterious as they are extrordinary. Buy Lillie’s book and tell your friends about it, It’s a good read.”