HAVANA NOCTURNE How the Mob Owned Cuba. . .and Then Lost It to the Revolution

This well-researched account will please history and entertainment fans, as well as those interested in the Mafia. Through news accounts, biographies, and interviews with survivors, it chronicles mobster Meyer Lansky's almost-successful attempt to turn Cuba into the capital of the Mafia's empire. Lansky's dream, born in the 1920s, didn't take root until the early 1950s, and then Castro's revolution ended the Cosa Nostra's grip on the country. In this fascinating story, listeners encounter mobsters, like Charles "Lucky" Luciano and Albert Anastasia, politicians, like the Kennedys, and movie stars, like Frank Sinatra, George Raft, and Ava Gardner. Mel Foster's reading is competent, though somewhat wooden, and his pronunciation of difficult names and places is excellent. Still, it’s disappointing that he reads comments by the characters rather than acting them—as he does so well in fiction. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2008]