Shogghoth

This review will contain spoilers because I do not know how else to discuss it without these details.

Cuba Libre was novel which had me hooked from the back cover description. A historical fiction crime thriller set in a tremulous time in history but not one commonly covered by most media like WW2 or other such conflicts. It centers around the Cuban War of Independence during 1895 and 1898 which many of the immigrants who were originally slaves brought in from Africa and other nations which participated in the trade would be freed during the years following the American civil war but still be sharecroppers caught under the boot of private industry and the Spanish special police force the Guardias.

The story goes into detail about the state of the Cuban people during this time which its drawing from real world events and motivations helped to deepen the characters connection to the world. Especially this can be seen by the side character who I found the most enjoyable and the core for the story Victor Fuentes who lived a double life working for a sugar plantation as a servant to an American Businessman but also being a key piece in helping the Liberates gather firearms and supplies for their liberation effort for their new homeland.

This is originally the character we are introduced into the story with as that person was Ben Tyler, horse rancher and reformed bank robber who always wants to get what he is owed. This being evident by the original reason for him being brand a criminal was how a wealthy entrepreneur had shorted him his due cash for running ponies so he and a Native American cohort he found himself with made off on a series of robberies getting their dues and remarking how easy it is to get away with them.

This leads to Ben being a prime pick for his friend Charlie Burkes scheme to run guns to the Cuban liberates under the guise of trading pony’s to a local American Businessman. Through encountering this rich man does Ben Tyler meet Amelia Brown a girl from New Orleans who is looking for an escape and excitement which she sees in the cowboy.

This setting is what I really enjoy about Cuba Libre it’s incredible connection to history and its willingness to identify the reasons why bigger forces within the country either want the liberation to go through or will be unaffected by its passing. The entire plot is so well crafted around the bigger events that each of the characters are pulled naturally around in response to them. For instance the reason why American is seen to enter the Cuban War for Independence was originally through to be the destruction of the USS Maine but its was more clearly placed there to be a plausible tragedy to help America bring in the Army to protect the many American businesses which make big profits off of Cuba.

These kinda bigger realizations help to make the story so engaging when I found the American characters to not have the same revolutionary call to action as the locals. Which I do think is apt since if you were a foreign. National in a country which is about to go through massive societal change you would wanna get yours and get out. Especially if they could ransom some money from the rich which Amelia Brown with Ben Tyler has planned to commit against her rich lover. This plot takes the later half of the book as it deals with the revolution, the guardians, and the American nationals all having reasons to get the ransom money and to double cross if need be. One really special scene being a train heist where the exchange takes place being full of tension and western gunslinger flaire which is a style that engaged me all the way through.

The care the author takes to make sure each characters opinions directly affects the setting they are in helps to hold the attention as a scene in a Spanish prison also follows well the scenes with the discussions about how trapped the characters feel within their situation. Seeing the inevitable war coming and looking for a way to escape the noose.

I will lastly talk about the Guardia Captain Tavalera which is seen as the direct villain in the story. He is posed as competent capable and menacing as a leader to a revolution busting imperialist has to be and the brutality of what he does to people who cross him or the country of Spain is shocking. He stuck out in the end as a tragic character who in the beginning saw the end of his story as he felt the urge to flee the coming battle against the United States but still had chosen to stay in which he believed that if he survived that chosen doom he may finally be at peace to got after the ransom money which he could use to escape with the ones he loves. He does meet that bitter end but the trope of a man realizing he’s on the wrong side of history and trying to escape helps to humanize him especially when he comes to terms with his mortality.

Isn’t everyone looking for an escape? Cuba Libre seems to think so the novel I found has everyone all focused on the escape of something, that being the law, your current love, mortality or the chains of nationality which hold the people around you captive. Everyone wants out and the ransom money seems to be the way to accomplish that as what good is suffering if you can’t profit from it. I think this is what makes Cuba Libre so great to read it’s a conveyor belt leading to a cliff and you wanna see who gets off before it’s too late.