Another Doc Ford adventure... leaving a trail of (mostly) destruction and bodies in his wake. Crossing international boundaries at will. All undertaken accompanied by the standard half-completed sentences and all conversations spoken at cross-purposes, but fully comprehended by all parties despite language boundaries. The only real mystery is how it all comes together and works out in the end. But hey, it’s all good.

Maybe one of my issues with Marion Ford is that he reminds me too much of me. Well, except for all of the above... and having a womans name. But seriously, I’m oftentimes left thinking... whoa, did he just say / do / think that? Cool, then it’s not just me!

For instance, towards the end of the book:

“I’ve never liked Sundays, he thought. Mini-holidays without purpose. Government offices not open on the one day people can afford to take off – what a pain in the ass.”

Yep, and Saturdays and holidays in general.

Anyway, a fast, easy read interweaving stories about SW Florida, Cuba, the Cold War, the Cuba Straits, and... baseball. ( )

Synopsis: Doc and Tomlinson are lured to Cuba by a baseball player carrying a case that contains letters from Raul and Fidel Castro to their mistress. She is the grandmother of the baseball player. They are also told that there are two Harley Davidson motorcycles and two presentation quality Tommy guns hidden somewhere near the baseball stadium. While trying to help the baseball player, they are being chased by a pedophile/murderer and a Russian hit man. The grandmother holds the key to the puzzle as well as is a puzzle in and of herself.
Review: In some parts the story is disjointed and doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Overall it is interesting and the grandmother adds a spooky level to the story. ( )

Doc Ford’s old friend, General Juan Garcia, has gone into the lucrative business of smuggling Cuban baseball players into the U.S. He is also feasting on profits made by buying historical treasures for pennies on the dollar. He prefers what dealers call HPC items—high-profile collectibles—but when he manages to obtain a collection of letters written by Fidel Castro between 1960–62 to a secret girlfriend, it’s not a matter of money anymore. Garcia has stumbled way out of his depth.

First Garcia disappears, and then the man to whom he sold the letters. When Doc Ford begins to investigate, he soon becomes convinced that those letters contain a secret that someone, or some powerful agency, cannot allow to be made public.

A lot happened between Cuba and the United States from 1960–62. Many men died. A few more will hardly be noticed ( )

It's hard to believe how a writer I once considered the best in America, regardless of genre, has fallen in my estimation. I won't even pick up his next one, already released, because this was the absolute worst of his last five. As I've said before, I believe his earlier works are pure literature. ( )

I listened to the audio version and I have to say it was better then Haunted and Bone Deep but still had issues. After listening to those two books, i was prepared to be dissapointed again. It seems White is trying to change his writing style or make it more complex and its not working. There were many times when it was really hard to follow the dialogue and keep track of who's who especially at the beginning. After about half way through the story finally started coming together but it still was not his best. Also, I didnt care for the ending. I felt like there were alot of loose ends that never got tied up. We never heard what happened to Tomlinson, where did the letters go, who killed the mistress etc. Also, the story made it sound like the "Castro's mistress" killed Vernon at first, then it said she had been dead for a couple days so I never did understand that??? Anyways, White needs to stick to the formula that was working, because these last few books have not worked for me. ( )