Kevin Tipple somehow senses when I’m going to be out of town again. Today, my family is boarding the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad in Romney, West Virginia, for a trip that takes us through the countryside, where we might be lucky enough to see eagles roosting. Kevin has a different trip in mind for you. He’s taking you back to a book that came out in 2013, Richard Helms’ The Mojito Coast. Thank you, Kevin.
Miami private investigator Cormac Loame isn’t at all thrilled with the idea of going to
Cuba on a case. He has been there before, done that, and was rather lucky to get back
home to Miami alive and in one piece. But, when Cecil “Madman” Hacker walked into
his office just before the Christmas holidays while Cormac pushed paperwork and
fantasized about buying a brand new 1958 Buick Roadmaster, he didn’t have any really
good way out. Hacker’s fourteen year old daughter Lila has been taken by Danny
McCarl. Danny was an employee of Madman and served as a sort of bodyguard.
Hacker, who is a retired boxer with mounting troubles of his own, can’t very well go to
Cuba right now and bring his daughter home. He wants Cormac to do it and does not
care if McCarl does not make it back stateside alive. Cormac isn’t going to kill McCarl
unless he absolutely has to and makes that clear before he takes the job and the
money. After all, with Madman’s connections, he gets what he wants and you don’t tell
the man no.
The last time Cormac was in Cuba it was in 1952 and he was lucky to do his business
and get out of the country. Back then Batista was firmly in control and thanking his
buddies in organized crime for their help by opening the island to anything they wanted
to do. Now in late 57 the crime syndicate connected hotels have been built, organized
crime is getting their share across all aspects of entertainment and vice, but Castro and
the rebels are coming with a vengeance. State controlled radio says the government is
winning the battle, but everyone knows reality is that now it is matter of time, maybe just
a few days, before the rebels capture the capital city and the corrupt Batista government
collapses. Against that backdrop, Cormac has to find the girl in a land that has never
been that friendly to him where old alliances are dead or crumbled and powerful
enemies are facing desperate times. The clock is ticking on the Batista government as
well as on the case itself and survival goes to the luckiest.
The Mojito Coast quickly pulls the reader deep
into the heavily conflicted world of Cormac Loame. A world where he can safely trust no
one and where the past five years that he has been gone has changed many and
hardened others. A world when he wants to get the girl and get out and is constantly
dealing with new obstacles in his quest. A world where the fires of revolution fill the
reader’s senses while Cormac struggles to stay alive in this excellent thriller that blends
together a special mix of mystery and adventure. Award winning author Richard Helms
has crafted quite the book with The Mojito Coast and it is very much worth your time.An ARC of this title was provided by the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013, 2024
