Thanks to Greg Rienzi for the terrific review of ESCAPE FROM CASTRO'S CUBA in the Winter issue of the Johns Hopkins magazine. He detailed my inspiration for the new novel. How I couldn't get Cuba out of my mind after my fourth trip to the island in early 2017. One of the amazing characters I met on this visit was our 80-year-old landlady, who first came to Havana as a member of Castro's revolutionary army.
Greg's piece closes with a quote from Billy Bryan, protagnoist of the new novel and its prequel, CASTRO'S CURVEBALL: "Cuba is beautiful, but has a dark heart."
True, so true.
In addition, here's an online chat Greg and I had about ESCAPE for the JHU Hub -- https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2021/winter/escape-castros-cuba-wendel/