Killing Castro Audiobook

" Republished 50 years after it's original appearance under a pseudonym and different title ("Fidel Castro Assassinated"), this pulp adventure is clunky as a story, but a kind of interesting artifact of its time. The premise is that a mysterious Cuban exile group in Florida (presumably based on the real-life Alpha 66) hires five men to sneak into Cuba and try and kill Castro. The bounty is $100,000 to split five ways, but if not everyone makes it out alive, the $100,000 will be paid to whomever is left standing. It's left totally unexplained how the five men came to the attention of the Cubans, but they include a bank teller dying of cancer, a professional hit man, a heist artist who's on the run after killing his girlfriend, a goon, and a teenager looking to avenge his brother, who died at the hands of a Castro firing squad (this last one was doubtlessly inspired by the case of William Morgan, an American adventurer who rose very high in Castro's revolutionary forces before being executed as a suspected spy -- for details of his life, see The Americano.). The whole scheme doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, since the men are brought together for one meeting, but then split up and enter Cuba a couple different ways. (Why bring them together at all, wouldn't that be more of a security risk?) The goon and the bank teller stick together and team up with a tiny small rebel band in the hills with whom they plan to attack Castro while he travels en route to a town. Their section devolves into some pure pulp, and never goes anywhere interesting. The heist artist and the teenager make it into Havana, where they hide out in a safe house and plot to heave a homemade bomb at Castro during a speech. The final plotline is the most interesting one, and features the professional hitman preparing for a rifle shot during one of Castro's public speeches. What makes the book somewhat unusual for pulp adventure is that the story is told in alternating chapters -- in between each bit of action are chapters providing info dumps of background on Batista-era Cuba, Castro's personal life, the struggle for revolution, and other historical background. This gives it the feel of some kind of experiment in educational writing, mixing action (and plenty of sex scenes) with history class. Again -- interesting as an artifact, but not the greatest storytelling. "

" Block's writing still is very good, sometimes almost poetry. This is an old book from 1961. It is a book that leaves you continuing the events in your head. Always a good thing for a book. Interesting idea, especially in light of events that happened in 62 & 63. "

" mmmm ~ pulpy! Not Block's best, by far, but what the heck. "

" great phrasing, spare, and descriptive "

" Not as fun for me as the pulpy city stories in the Hard Case Crime series, but certainly of historical interest given its original early 1960s publication date. I'd teach this for a fun break in a course on American literature of the Cold War. "

" Thoroughly ludicrous plot with some gaping plot holes, but still enjoyable just like every Block book I've read. Writing and story didn't feel dated to me. Interesting ending, this may be the first alternative-history book. "

" One of the more enjoyable Hard Case Crime books, it shows a team of killers hired to rub out Fidel Castro. Since history tells us they didn't succeed, the drama is in following each member of the team and their own personal destinies. A good introduction to Block's work for me. "

" Hard Case Crime #51 - The 100th book I read in 2008, by mystery grandmaster Lawrence Block. "

" Perhaps the last pages could have been a bit stronger, but this is a gripping story by a skilled writer. "

" Fifty years out of print, this novel is a good, hard edged, fast read. I dug it. "

" Great pulp fiction. The story moves quickly, not alot of fluff. Good stuff. "

" It's hard for me not to like anything Lawrence Block writes. Could it have been better? Sure. Did he write it very early on in his career? Absolutely. It's a look back at a promising start. "

" Wasn't too fond of the ending but overall a good Hard case crime novel. "

" well, this pretty much lived up to my expectations from the pulpy cover. not terribly developed, but an interesting step back in history. the main attraction to this for me is that it was published the year before the missile crisis! i won't be keeping it on my bookshelf though.. "

" New author for me. Too much sex and no character development. Strange part was listening to the story in 2011--it was written in 1961. Glad it was not a longer story. "

" Good but not great pulp novel from the early sixties mainly interesting for the fact that ****MASSIVE SPOILERS*** they actually kill Castro at the end of the book which I'm pretty sure differs from actual current history. Nice bit of fun for a few days read tho'... "

" Not as fun for me as the pulpy city stories in the Hard Case Crime series, but certainly of historical interest given its original early 1960s publication date. I'd teach this for a fun break in a course on American literature of the Cold War. "

" Hard Case Crime #51 - The 100th book I read in 2008, by mystery grandmaster Lawrence Block. "

" Great pulp fiction. The story moves quickly, not alot of fluff. Good stuff. "

" well, this pretty much lived up to my expectations from the pulpy cover. not terribly developed, but an interesting step back in history. the main attraction to this for me is that it was published the year before the missile crisis! i won't be keeping it on my bookshelf though.. "

" It's hard for me not to like anything Lawrence Block writes. Could it have been better? Sure. Did he write it very early on in his career? Absolutely. It's a look back at a promising start. "

" Somewhat surprising plot surrounding ugly characters. Interesting, could have done without the rape. "

" Definitely an early work. Very pulp. very early sixties erotic (which isn't very erotic at all. Even the good sex seems violent.) And of course, a fantasy, since the ending ignores history. "