The Pleasures of Crime (Page 3)

For the characters in Cuban writer José Latour's new noir Havana World Series, recently published by Grove, the situation is just the opposite. Latour's group of thieves, all ex-cons hoping to pull off their last and best job, wants only to get filthy rich.

The story is set in 1958 Havana, just before the revolution. While the World Series between the Braves and Yankees plays in the background, a pair of New York mob bosses hurry a plan to break up Meyer Lansky's stranglehold on Cuba's gambling scene before there's a shift in the government power structure and inside connections need to be rejiggered. On their behalf, a group of expert criminals, with the aid of an inside man, will rob Lansky's most profitable casino. The heist will yield considerable profit for the guys in New York and, more important, shame Lansky and weaken his hold on Havana nightlife.

Although Havana World Series gets off to a rocky start--Latour opens the book with intense focus on a character who has little to do with the plot, and the World Series winds up being a flimsy backdrop to the very dramatic robbery--it picks up considerably once we meet Mariano "Ox" Contreras, who acts as both ringleader and father figure to the other criminals. He is a reserved and intelligent man who relishes more than anything pulling off the perfect job. His plan is intricate and, at times, comical; his affection for his men, especially the young Abo, who acts as his son in part of the robbery scheme, understated and sweet.

While the first half of Havana World Series is a romp through the casinos and planning and, eventually, the heist, the second half follows Contreras and his crew as they separate to hide out, to spend their stolen money, to get caught, to save one another. There's torture and tension and dread; Latour's characterization of the corrupt thugs in Cuba's pre-revolutionary police force ends up being even better than his chronicle of the heist.

Of course, love stories and minor romances are wound through the story, but Latour's characters care for Cuba more than they could for any woman. The island is warm, sheltering and sexy--full of good hideouts for a group of criminals, but also for anyone looking to escape from this interminably cold winter.

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