Cuba

Rating:
Summary: Changes In Cuba
Review: This was the first Coonts novel that I have ever read and found it very enjoyable and plan on reading more. The story here is very good and follows some of Tom Clancy's style where characters are introduced through out the book and than braught together at the end.



Rating:
Summary: An average Grafton novel
Review: A worthy addition to my Coonts collection. A must read for Coonts fans. However, nothing special.

Rating:
Summary: Good thriller plot overcomes other issues
Review: Just so you'll know, I am reviewing this book as a book on tape - I listened to it as a book on tape and as a book on tape it was pretty good, meaning that I never really wondered if there was something else on the radio that was better.

AS to the plot - I found it to be especially interesting to have the book focus on the presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Cuba, considering our current situations in Iran and North Korea and the ongoing search for WMD in Iraq. The descriptions of the power of these weapons and the reasons that tin-pot dictators and superpowers possess them was informative.

As always, Coonts writes wonderful action sequences. His characters are sometimes a bit stiff, especially with his American cabinet officials.

Quibbles I have with the book:

-Sometimes there's so much tech-speak that it bogs the story down. At times, Coonts seems more interested in showing us cool gadgets than moving the story along.

-Why is Rear Admiral Jake Grafton personally leading the invasion of a Cuban prison and checking out abandoned freighters with Toad Tarkington? Why is Toad Tarkington leading military mission after military mission? These men are in their 50s! Are their no Junior officers in his entire carrier group? Very Captain Kirk-ish. It seems to me that this would have been an excellent time to have passed the baton generationally and introduced the readers to a couple of new, young, enthusiastic officers who could do some of these rough and tumble adventures.

Rating:
Summary: Great Characters--Great Setting
Review: I'm an American woman teacher living overseas, and this is the first Stephen Coonts novel that I've read. I liked it. I enjoy thrillers in foreign settings, and this one did not disappoint me.

I had recently read some other novels, by another author, dealing with Cuba, and Cuban Americans livng in Miami, which is what drew me to this book. Knowing from those books about the constant speculation, in the Cuban-American community, of what will happen when Fidel dies, I read this novel with great interest! I thought he wove a fantastic tale around this idea. I liked the personalities given to the Cuban characters in the book.

I also enjoyed some of the military aspects of the book, and the discussion of WHY we (and other countries) are "armed to the teeth."

I would definitely be willing to read more books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: My first Coonts but certainly not the last!
Review: I thought "Cuba," by Stephen Coonts was a good story (not great) but still interesting enough. Military action meets political fiction. I did like the characters and the suspense.

Rating:
Summary: Slow start, but improves.
Review: "Cuba" gets off to a slow start, and threatens to lose its way every now and then, but is overall pretty good. Not the best in the series, not the worst either.

Rating:
Summary: Only an average thriller.
Review: While entertaining, this book is very predictible. There aren't any surprises, so you are left with Coontz's description of events to entertain you. He does a good job describing the action and the CIA inflitration of CUBA. Grafton is a minor player in this book, his only job being to monitor an attack that he is in charge of. Still, this book is easy to read and not a total disappointment.