Is foul play involved in the vanishing of a popular Cuban
politician, or is it another kind of crime? Havana police
lieutenant Mario Conde awakes on January 1, 1989, with a pounding
New Year's Eve hangover and an uncomfortable assignment: the
reported disappearance of Rafael Mor'n Rodr'guez, a charismatic and
influential politico in Cuba's ruling nomenklatura. Rafael was last
seen dancing with his trophy wife Tamara at a festive party.
Conde's discomfort stems from the fact that Tamara was the girl of
his dreams. In fact, he's never really gotten over her. Every stage
of the probe is punctuated by nostalgic flashbacks - back in the
day, Conde and his best friend Skinny Carlos hopelessly loved
Tamara and her sister Aymara - followed by Conde's
self-recrimination over his current mediocrity. Tamara, at first
evasive and unable to name any possible enemies of her husband,
suddenly finds an address book full of potential leads. But Conde
and his partner, oversexed sergeant Manuel Palacios, have a hard
time following up on them. Everyone in Havana's corridors of power
throws smoke and red herrings into their path. A break in the case
comes from the unlikely Comrade Fernandez-Lorea, who's "just like
Al Pacino." Padura's first Conde novel, though the third translated
into English (Havana Black, 2006, etc.), features a political
smoke-and-mirrors mystery wrapped in a dusky narrative of grim,
sophisticated humor. (Kirkus Reviews)
Lieutenant Mario Conde is suffering from a terrible New Year's Eve
hangover. Though it's the middle of a weekend, he is asked to
urgently investigate the mysterious disappearance of Rafael Morin,
a high-level business manager in the Cuban nomenklatura. Conde
remembered Morin from their student days: good-looking, brilliant,
a "reliable comrade'' who always got what he wanted, including
Tamara the girl Conde was after. But Rafael Morin's exemplary rise
from a poor barrio and picture perfect life hide more than one
suspicious episode worthy of investigation. While pursuing the case
in a decaying but adored Havana, Conde confronts his lost love for
Tamara and the dreams and illusions of his generation.
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