José Latour, originario dell'Avana, si è ritagliato una nicchia con le sue incisive esplorazioni del crimine e della critica sociale. Il suo lavoro, spesso ambientato sullo sfondo turbolento della Cuba post-rivoluzionaria, approfondisce temi di corruzione e repressione politica. Influenzato dalla classica narrativa poliziesca, lo stile di Latour è caratterizzato da trame avvincenti e acuta intuizione psicologica. I suoi scritti, che hanno coraggiosamente affrontato l'oppressione ideologica, offrono uno sguardo agghiacciante sulla natura umana e la ricerca della giustizia.
Uno scrittore cubano che vive a L'Avana, scrive in inglese e ambienta quasi tutto un suo romanzo negli Stati Uniti suscita certamente curiosità. Se, inoltre, il libro è candidato negli Usa a un prestigioso premio letterario ed è stato tradotto nelle più disparate lingue, dall'olandese al francese, al giapponese, la curiosità aumenta ancor di più. E Lontano da Cuba è tutto ciò: un giallo che sembra scritto da un nordamericano ma che ha infinite sollecitazioni latine.
Elliot Steil works as a down-and-out school teacher in Havana. Resigned to the tedium of his simple life, Elliot has put any hopes of a better future to one side. But his aspirations are rekindled when he is offered an opportunity by a mysterious visitor who claims to know his late father.
Set against the backdrop of contemporary Havana and Miami, the story follows Colonel Victoria Valiente, a top intelligence officer who grapples with her loyalty to a crumbling regime. Persuaded by her husband to defect, they embezzle $2.7 million and attempt a daring escape to Key West. Unbeknownst to them, the FBI is already aware of their plans, having enlisted the help of a Cuban exile. This novel weaves suspense and eroticism into a thrilling narrative, providing a deep exploration of Cuba's political landscape and the complexities of loyalty and betrayal.
A moody slice of Cuban noir from the acclaimed author of Outcast: 'A masterful book ... passionate, frightening and extremely violent' Independent on Sunday Years ago, a fleeing Batista supporter reportedly stashed an incredibly valuable collection of diamonds in a Havanan apartment. Now a pair of Americans (posing as Canadians) have come to Cuba to find the jewels on behalf of the man's blind son, who promised them a share of the fortune if they can make it back to New York. Arriving at the apartment, they have to negotiate its present occupants - a mismatched brother and sister: he a Cuban wide boy scraping a living out of selling girls, pornography and drugs to foreigners; she an upright, vulnerable, beautiful woman with a tragic past. (Their father, the hero of the Cuban revolution, is in gaol after shooting his wife's lover.) Add to this is a hitman the Americans unwisely hired to get rid of one of the obstacles in their path, who now wants a piece of the action himself, and the pressure is on to find the diamonds and get out of Havana - before someone else gets their hands on them.
