Havana Twist: Library Edition

Rating:
Summary: Laughed out loud at times, but didn't breath until the end.
Review: "A. Reader"'s comments, and those of some others here, have made me want to read some of Lia Matera's other books. Surely they must be better than Havana Twist, whose writing is pedestrian at best (the description of the Havana waterfront and other landmarks I'm familiar with are spectacularly leaden and dull, and the characterization was unrealistic at best: what a bunch of bozos, legally speaking, her protagonists were), to inspire such unthinking loyalty.

While Mr. or Ms. "Reader" assures us she or he knows Cuba by drifting away from the tourist zones and can vouch for Matera (despite the efforts of sinister taxi drivers), I've visited Cuba about 20 times over the past seven years and have spent more time with open and avowed dissidents than "A. Reader" has spent altogether in Cuba. The statements referring to me by name, impugning my motives on easily provable false grounds, and posted anonymously, might be considered libelous in some contexts, if anybody was infantile enough to give them credence.

My failure to describe Matera's undescriptive description of Mexico City -- and its laws -- where I've lived for a decade -- was due to my intent not to bore potential readers.

I did very much like Martin Cruz Smith's Cuba-based mystery -- which was no more favorable to Cuba, and somewhat outdated, but vastly better written -- and recommend that anybody purchase it from Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: A decent mystery!
Review: I liked it, though it was like I had read it some where else, it was still good!

Rating:
Summary: A very good and very funny book!
Review: I loved Havana Twist! Matera has a very funny and sparkling writing style, bringing the locations and the characters to life. Most of her Willa Jansson books are set in San Francisco, where I grew up, and they are fantastic for local detail. A Canandian friend of mine who's been to Cuba was reading this book when he visited me over the holidays. He loved the descriptions of Havana, and he kept quoting lines to me half the night. To tell the truth, I had hesitated about ordering this one because a couple of fan reviews here on amazon made it sound not as good as the others in the series. But I'm really glad my friend made me want to order a copy. I thought this book was as every bit as funny and good if not better than other ones in the series--and that's saying a lot. I've never written a review for amazon before, but I wanted to say I definitely completely agree with the positive reviews here and strongly disagree with the negative ones. And so does my friend in Vancouver, who's been to Cuba several times. This book is a real page-turner, and Matera really makes you feel like you're right there. And some of her lines are so hilarious you want to phone somebody just to read them aloud. I recommend it very highly.

A fan in Portland

Rating:
Summary: Hooray! Willa's back!!
Review: Lia Matera's lawyer-sleuth, Willa Jansson, is one of my favorite characters in contemporary fiction because she's intelligent, has a unique moral center, and can be counted on to offer the clever aside that puts everything in perspective. And in HAVANA TWIST, she finds herself in a situation that shows off all her best qualities. I've read every one of Matera's books and love them all. An adventure with Willa Jansson always opens the world for me and introduces me to situations or places or ways of thinking that I hadn't known about before. Matera's a brilliant writer who can paint a culture like Castro's sad and much-diminished Cuba so vividly I can see the ruined houses, the streets and markets, the workers who toil there. When Willa's socialist-activist mother fails to return from a trip to that island, Willa follows every shred of a clue and finds herself confronted with increasingly hostile reactions from local officials. Brave but not foolish, she doesn't give up her search, even after she's expelled from the country. I was engrossed in this book I didn't notice that afternoon had turned to evening while I was following Willa down twisty streets, across dusty roads, and into the heart of a story that compelled me to keep reading. I highly recommend this entertaining and thoughtful book from an intelligent and clever writer.

Rating:
Summary: consorting with the enemy
Review: maverick lawyer,willa jansson, travels to post-soviet cuba in search of her peacenik mother. more of a missing person detective story than legal fiction. insightful description of deprivation and surveillance in an aging dictatorship with developing ties to red china.

Rating:
Summary: Fast, Furious, Funny Thriller
Review: Thirty-something, Santa Cruz lawyer/sleuth Willa Jansson's lefty mother, June, who still lives in the radical '60s, went to Cuba with a group of senior peaceniks and failed to return with the rest of the group and nobody knows what happened to her

Able to barely get by in Spanish, she goes to Cuba via Mexico, where she picks up Pesos to spend so she can get around the prohibition of spending U.S. Dollars, which the U.S. calls trading with the enemy.

In Cuba she meets up with a couple Americans, who seem like spy types, but claim to be reporters, and then they disappear. She continues looking as discretely as possible, making friends with a local street urchin, enemies with a Chinese soldier and she finds herself at odds with different departments of the Cuban Police and she eventually gets tossed out of the country.

Six months go by before some information finally comes to light about her mother, so she goes back with San Francisco Homicide Lieutenant Don Surgelato, an old flame she'd like to get together with again.

Now Willa has to stay a jump ahead of both the Cuban and American governments and a ruthless killer as she desperately hunts for her mother in this high-stakes, nail-biting, heart-racing thriller. And what did happen to June? Ah, you'll have to read the book to find out.

Rating:
Summary: Boring political screed
Review: This book has a tight plot with many twists and turns. I really enjoyed the main character's company throughout. Her wry asides are pointed and funny. The love interests add tension. I was glad not to hear directly from the main character's mother, whom I find incredibly annoying. I enjoyed reading about Cuba and Mexico and thought the amount of space given to describe the two countries was just right.

I don't know if the plot is believable. I simply accepted it. The author convinced me to go along.

After reading books that are packed with extra junk just to make them longer so that the publisher can sell them for higher prices (consider Diane Mott Davidson's "Killer Pancake," full of repetition and recipes for disgusting low fat creations), I am pleased to see that Matera has not fallen for that ploy. Congratulations to her for writing a book that is only as long as it needs to be.

Rating:
Summary: matera's best since 'prior convictions'
Review: Willa Jansson is back in a mystery that is Lia Matera's best since 'Prior Convictions'. Havana Twist had me on the edge of my seat. Willa's mother, the original bleeding heart for socialism, disappears while on a tour of Cuba. Willa tries to retrace her footsteps and turns up a few clues that seem promising, but seem to lead no where. Months go by, and nothing pans out, until a Willa's former (much former!) love interest, Don Surgelato, SFPD lieutenant of homicide (and once on the receiving end of one of Willa's mother's very vocal, very public diatribes) picks up a tiny clue. The case escalates, Willa and Don eventually travel back to Cuba, only to return empty-handed. Fans of Matera's Willa Jansson series will love this quick-paced, dramatic story set against the backdrop of socialist Cuba. Like all of Matera's books, the novel is rich with political and social flavors, but without the world-weary cynicism of Matera's yuppie lawyer Laura DiPalma. Willa Jansson manages to maintain an innocent idealism, a belief in happy endings, even when all the evidence would indicate the ending has already come. Highly recommended, and if you've never read any of Matera's books, this is a great one to start with.