Ghosts of Havana

Written by Todd Moss

Narrated by Piter Marek

A timely international thriller by the former deputy assistant secretary of state and bestselling author. When four American sport fishermen stray into Cuban waters and are promptly arrested by Castro's navy, State Department crisis manager Judd Ryker finds himself called in to negotiate their release. But the more Ryker digs in to the situation, the more things he discovers that just don't seem to fit, especially now, with relations between the United States and Cuba supposedly thawing. Who are these men really, and what were they doing there? What is Ryker's actual mission, and what is his own government hiding from him? Some people want the new initiative to succeed. Others want to stop it at any cost. Still others see it as an opportunity for something much more radical. The common factor for every one of them: the time to act is right this minute. The ghosts of Havana are walking, and Ryker is caught in the middle of them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781501930294

Reviews for Ghosts of Havana

[vicki_weisfeld · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The long tail of the 1961 U.S. Bay of Pigs invasion disaster swings around to sting a married couple in this fast-paced political thriller—third in a series by former U.S. State Department diplomat Todd Moss.With his insider’s background, Moss believably portrays the interdepartmental rivalries inside the Washington Beltway, where high-stakes diplomacy faces off against the less, shall we say, conventional means of asserting American interests deployed by the rival Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).Moss’s protagonist, in these novels, is former Amherst College professor Judd Ryker. He developed a political theory suggesting that, in times of a country’s destabilization—whether because of natural calamity or military coup or political upheaval—quick U.S. intervention can help mold the new status quo to fit American interests. He’s been brought into the State Department to create a one-man Crisis Reaction Unit. In other words, to put his theory to the test. Not surprisingly, the State Department’s career diplomats are not interested in this outsider’s theories, and do all they can, by foot-dragging and outright sabotage, to assure he fails.Judd’s wife Jessica has what he has been led to believe is a job in international relief efforts. As this book opens, she has just revealed that she works for the CIA. In fact, she heads a super-secret unit that operates with total independence and is available for various tricky problem-solving tasks around the world.Now that Jessica’s responsibilities are out in the open, the couple has agreed on three fundamentals going forward: they will assist each other whenever possible; they will avoid working on the same problem whenever they can; and they will admit to each other when a situation arises that they cannot follow through with assist or avoid. Relevant to all three of these is a commitment to always tell each other the truth, even though at times they may need to keep their employers’ secrets. Like so many principles, stating them turns out to be easier than living them.Within three days, Jessica counts up at least eight lies she’s told Judd already. Yet, at the same time, he’s reassuring her that he’s in his State Department office, when he’s actually headed to Gauntánamo Bay Naval Base to meet with the shadowy director of Cuban intelligence. Cuba’s top leaders are elderly. Sick too. There’s every reason to believe that a moment of disruption—of the kind Judd believes is ripe for positive intervention—is imminent. His trip to Cuba is the first step, though the stated reason for the meeting is to extricate four Americans caught on a fishing boat in Cuban waters. Moss gives a sharp, up-to-the-minute feel in terms of crazy politics, self-serving politicos, and mainstream diplomatic strategists trying to keep the lid on. Throughout, he does a great job in showing the discrepancy between the way events are played for the public and the reality of the situation as Judd and Jessica perceive it. It’s enough to make you look at the nightly news with an even more skeptical eye!

[musichick52 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This third installment of the Judd Ryker series is a super quick read with action galore. I read it in an afternoon. You will learn a lot about Cuban political history since JFK and the Bay of Pigs. There are spies working with and against spies, corrupt government officials, agents from various three letter federal employees and a husband/wife team of superheroes. My thanks to the author and the Penguin First to Read program for a complimentary copy.