A Killing Castro
by Lawrence Block
Power, Revenge and retribution: a look
backwards at Castro in a rare thriller
Publisher:
Hard Case Crime (January 2009)
Thirty-four years old and wanted for murder,
Turner has a plan to get his life back on track. One job, one golden
opportunity plus twenty thousand dollars promised and he's off to
Brazil to put his past behind him and live the good life. Together,
Turner sets off on a mission with four other men to assassinate Fidel
Castro, each member with motivations all his own. Fenton has nothing to
lose. Cancer will get him if Castro's men don't. Fueled by a sense of
justice, Hines plans to revenge the death of his brother, a man who
fought alongside Castro and then was executed. Garth is all muscle, a
man whose lack of restraint might endanger the mission before it even
gets started. Garrison has his own plan. If the others fail, he will
finish the job from his window and then escape. As the assassination
comes together, their various motivations and personalities mix to
create tensions and for some of the members, recent encounters during
the mission put a kink into their original motivations. Can these men
hold it together long enough to accomplish their mission and can they
survive?
Hard Case Crime's publication of KILLING
CASTRO makes available for Lawrence Block enthusiasts a most
exceedingly difficult work to obtain for fans who cannot afford the
high price tag of the original edition, if one can even manage to find
a copy of this rare work. Originally published as FIDEL CASTRO ASSASSINATED under the
pen name Duncan Lee in 1961 by Monarch, a pseudonym never used before
or afterwards, this new publication of KILLING CASTRO will allow fans a
fuller insight into the totality of Lawrence Block's works. For culture
and history enthusiasts, this thriller provides an intriguing look into
the past. Published after the Bay of Pigs incident but before the Cuban
Missile Crisis, the thriller KILLING
CASTRO provides an intriguing insight into the attitudes and
thoughts at the time. Original cover art by Sharif Tarabay accompanies
this thriller, setting the tone from the sten gun to the younger
portrait of Castro.
From the perspective of readers several decades later who are
witnessing the end of Castro's regime rather than the ramp up to the
height of his power, KILLING CASTRO is an intriguing document of
cultural history now available to a wide range of readers. Italicized
chapters provide a historical perspective on Castro. From law student
dedicated to winning rights for the average man and overturning
Batista's dictatorship by legal means to a leader who becomes more and
more like the man he seeks to depose, the author gives a chilling
portrait of the corruption of power and greed when a guerrilla warrior
moves from the outsider to the one in power and revolutionary justice
becomes the norm rather than law. Lawrence Block creates an intriguing
echo between the motivations and changes in Castro and some of the men
on a mission to assassinate him. The echo is not a simplistic parallel
but rather, the author provides intriguing variations and outcomes
depending on the characters involved. Although those who have read the
entire Lawrence Block canon might not feel KILLING CASTRO measures up to his
best and most known thrillers, certainly, this book is a must have
addition to a Lawrence Block collection to treasure and an intriguing
work to ponder in the context of the entire Lawrence Block canon. Hats
off to Hard Case Crime for making this work available!
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