Habana Intrigue (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780692061466)

Habana Intrigue is the first book is a series following the adventures of an ageing government agent Terry Quinn. When his job title changes from operative to agent, he becomes responsible for the planning and implementation of the mission rather than the actual carrying out of the mission. He is first sent to Pensacola to get briefed on his new role and pick up a sailboat he will be using on a mission to Cuba. He is introduced to a young marine who will be replacing him and who will carry out the mission. They form a bond and arrange for him to visit Cuba as his nephew and scout the terrain. His first mission in Cuba is to set up the kidnapping of a Russian officer who will be visiting the island. He sails into Marina Hemingway under the guise of a retired businessman now cruising the Caribbean. In Cuba he meets other agents already there living on their boats on station assignments. One from Canada and one from the same U.S. agency he works for. The American has been in Cuba for over a year and has established himself with the locals and the government. His current assignment is to help with the defection of a Russian diplomat at the same time as the kidnapping. While Terry is being shown the lay of the land and establishing contacts, he is introduced to a beautiful Cuban woman who is well connected and runs a paladar (private restaurant). They soon develop a romantic relationship and he gets introduced to the real Cuba with all it's captivating charm. This turns into a mission like he has never had before. He had never had time to get involved with a woman or place he had been. She eventually gets involved with helping him implement his plan. Together they come up with a scenario to get the Russian in a certain place where the young marine and his team can kidnapp him. As the time for the Russians to arrive and the plans to go into effect, a Cuban Cornel starts to get suspicious of some of his officers and their connection with the other American. When he and his boss, a semi-retired and semi-senile general from the Revolution start questioning the other officers, the other agent decides it's time to leave and turns over his mission to Terry. Terry devises a new plan and spends a few days showing his nephew around while working out the details for his mission. When the night of the mission arrives, some things go smooth and some unforeseen actions go haywire creating problems. Terry works those out with some difficulty. The only thing left now is to figure out how to deal with the only woman he has ever loved. That turns into a bigger and more horrible situation than he could have ever imagined. Terry ends up completing one more mission before he leaves Cuba for good.