WOOF! I can hardly believe it, I have been reading Nelson DeMille’s books for almost 30 years. In all that time I have only failed a few, I liked all the others a lot. (Hey, I guess everyone’s entitled to an oopsie once in a while.) But A Cuban Affair is classic, smart DeMille at his finest.

Mac, a highly decorated veteran, retires to sunny Key West, Florida to operate his charter fishing boat, ‘Tea METERhigher.’ Mac wants to get as far away from the war as possible. The problem is that the scars people can’t see haunt him more than the ones they can see. While relaxing at the infamous Green Parrot Bar, she is approached by a lawyer named Carlos who wants to rent The Maine for a trip to Cuba. With thoughts of his boat loan dancing in his head, he reluctantly agrees to meet the client, Eduardo, who works with anti-Castro groups and a beautiful and sassy Cuban-American lady named Sara, with whom he fell instantly in love. Sara wants to retrieve a trunk hidden in a cave by her grandfather during the 1959 revolution. She is said to have sixty million dollars and land documents proving true ownership of properties illegally confiscated under the Castro regime are worth even more. He agree.

The plan is for Mac and Sara to mingle on an educational tour of the island. Then sneak around unseen, head to the cave, find the trunk, and then slide down the beach and hitchhike home to The Maine. Simple truth? Not in today’s environment and not with Nelson DeMille holding the pen.

Expertly researched and set just as the Cold War-era relationship was beginning to soften, DeMille has provided an authentic portrait of Cuban-American relations and life on the island. The characters are sharp, deeply drawn and well thought out. No stick figures here! I feel like I know these people. I wanted to meet them and I cared about what was going on in their lives. The pace was fast, with a lot of smart and strategically placed action. (Don’t overdo it, blow everything up for no reason.) The plot unfolded layer by layer, building excitement and tension like the slow jolt of an uphill roller coaster. (I found myself holding my breath more than once.)

Fast-paced action sequences, hold on to your seat, clever dialogue, and DeMille’s unique humor – what more could a reader ask for? It is beautiful, moving, exciting and most of all entertaining. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading a well-written story.

Happy reading!