Havana Bay - Martin Cruz Smith

There are books which take you places through their very words and descriptions, only thing is that, you yourself are stationed at one location reading your own journey. Martin Cruz Smith’s “Havana Bay”, is one such book which will take you on the trip of Cuba, like never before. Yes, like never before, as it could be said to be one of those takes on a country and particularly one of its city, i.e.… Havana which will leave you intoxicated with wanting for more.

“Havana Bay” is the fourth book in the “Arkady Renko” series and it surely is quite different from its predecessors. Set in the musical city of Havana, Cuba, it narrates an indirect investigation of a dead body which is of a disguised Russian agent. That’s when Arkady Renko, a Russian, arrives in Havana to identify the dead body. That’s when the entire story comes alive. It’s an interesting premise which is not about an investigation of a murder but to discover the entire trail of events which led to the discovering of the dead body, underlying of which, there is a conspiracy of mammoth proportion which could change the dynamics of the country.

“Havana Bay” could easily be bracketed into a different league of narrative. Here the concentration is on metaphor of the life in Cuba, particularly, Havana, which is linked to the majority of events that takes place in the narrative. The best part of the narrative is easily the description of life in Cuba and the characters which we come across, both are terrifically interesting and mysterious.  The story and the plot is simple but the placing of the events and the characterization of each of the individual is highly impressive. Arkady Renko, for instance, has been given an added shade in this thriller which makes him more subtle and more human. The entire narrative of his private life and his memories of his wife would surely give the readers goose bumps.

There is History between Cuba and Russia, and this fact has been beautifully engraved in many of the events, dialogues and even character traits. What the reader would surely enjoy in this book is sarcasm and metaphorism, both go together in this book. The background of the city of Havana and the impact of its history on its present population is surely interesting to introspect. It makes you think about lot of things which we know about Cuba and seen about Havana.

The entire setting of an investigation which is led by a Cuban detective along with Arkady Renko is quite a revelation not only because of the difference of opinion and language barrier, it also brings out the difference in those two personalities which is also reflection of the two countries which they respectively belong to. The entire set of conversations bring out these facts very interestingly giving the reader something to introspect about human nature.

Some of the many local concepts which forms part of this plot, gives us more insight about the life into those settings. The concepts of the various secret societies existing, and their link to one of the main characters was particularly interesting to note. The narratives about those secret societies would take the reader into a different world of narrative fantasy altogether.

“Havana Bay” is more about Havana and Cuba than about a Murder investigation. It is this aspect of the narrative which makes it a little different from its peers. It will never be among those top detective books but it surely is a book which you will not forget about in the near future.

“Havana Bay” as a book, does what a book should do, it takes you to places through the very words it is made up of.