Rum, a twist of lime, and Coca-Cola. A Cuba Libre. With two ingredients uniquely
Caribbean and the other as American as apple pie, it's a drink characteristic of the
cultures it represents. Elmore Leonard's CUBA LIBRE is much the same: part western, part
historical fiction, and indicative of two divergent cultures on the edge of conflict.
Like any good mixologist, Leonard blends the elements of this refreshing concoction with
such skill that the seamless end-product satisfies on many levels.
It's 1898, the battleship Maine has just been sunk, and Cuba is on the verge of the
Spanish-American War. Ben Tyler, enlisted by his old friend, Charlie Burke, accompanies a
boatload of horses to Havana for sale to a wealthy American landowner named Roland
Boudreaux. Unbeknownst to the authorities, the boat also contains a shipment of guns for
the Cuban insurrectos.
Leonard has crafted a unique hero in Tyler --- tough, smart, brave and loyal, but not free
from tarnish. He's spent time in prison for bank robbery, but the banks he robbed
contained the accounts of those who owed him money, and his "withdrawals" were
only for the amounts he was owed. In a kill-or-be-killed world, Tyler has taken action.
But he's paid for his crimes and is looking for a new life. Charlie Burke offers him that
chance.
Burke and Tyler meet Victor Fuentes, Boudreaux's personal assistant, proceed to a bar to
settle up with Boudreaux, are given the runaround and leave unpaid. But it's there that
Tyler's life takes a couple of turns.
He meets Boudreaux's mistress, Amelia Brown, a sassy, beautiful woman with a mind of her
own. Sparks fly in more ways than one. Tyler kills a Spanish army officer in self-defense.
Shortly thereafter, he and Burke are taken to a Cuban prison by the head of the Guardia
Civil, Lionel Tavalera, on the suspicion of being spies.
Tavalera embodies an evil ruthlessness. And he's really smart. He doesn't have much love
for the Spanish occupiers, sees the Cuban insurgents as enemies, and just plain hates the
Americans. But he has the cunning to play all sides against one another, believing that in
doing so, he'll land on his feet no matter the outcome of the impending conflict.
Just when you think that Tyler has met his match, help comes in the forms of the Amelia
Brown and Victor Fuentes. These characters shrug off the conventionalities of most popular
fiction, drawing you deeper into the tale, eagerly anticipating their next moves.
With CUBA LIBRE, Leonard abandons the familiar territory of the concrete jungle but the
Cuban jungle proves fertile ground for him as well. We learn much about the
Spanish-American War along the way, too. And the Leonard hallmark is still in place:
witty, intelligent dialogue.
Elmore Leonard started out writing westerns 34 novels ago. This foray back 100 years
proves he has not lost his feel for the genre. Early on, when Ben Tyler asks Charlie
Burke, "Why me?" Burke replies, "you've rode the high country and had a
price on your head. I feel if I'm gonna break the law I ought to have a partner knows what
it's like...somebody that's et the cake."
Leonard has et the cake, and we are all the better for it. With CUBA LIBRE, we can all
have our cake and eat it too.
--- Reviewed by Vern Wiessner
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