Book Review #1

Havana Room by Colin Harrison

I am not the first one to write about this book--and all the writing has been positive and well deserved. The book is now over 2 years old, but I only lately got around to reading it.

As a fan of the mystery/thriller novel, I have come to expect the expected. Not many writers are able to add a new angle or a new twist to a genre that is so old and so crowded. Harrison does it, though, and then some, in Havana Room. As a newcomer to New York City, I was able to imagine the streets and avenues the protagonist traveled throughout the novel. In so many other mystery/thrillers, I can pretty much guess how it will play out even if I don't figure out who the villain is very early in the book. But the places that Harrison takes us, and the things that happen while there, are such an amazingly wonderful distraction that the outcome is well shrouded.

This books is 10 times better than Da Vinci Code, which was a 2nd rate mystery at best. The only thing that made Da Vinci Code such a success was the fact that it challenged the religious establishment, and that kind of forbidden fruit appeals to a wide audience.

In summary, if you haven't read it already, run out to your favorite bookseller and pick up a copy of Havana Room. As a reader of 3-5 books per week, I unconditionally endorse it. And the New York Times agrees with me. Who woulda thunk it?