by Elmore Leonard
He made an indelible mark with witty crime capers like Get Shorty and Pronto, but Elmore Leonard began his novel-writing career with shoot-'em-up westerns. In Cuba Libre, happily, he mines both rich veins. On the eve of the Spanish-American War, Arizona cowpuncher-bank-robber-horse-wrangler Ben Tyler arrives in Cuba with a string of mares to sell to an American sugarcane magnate. Of course things go wrong: Tyler shoots a Spanish officer, falls in love with the magnate's mistress and ends up chasing a fortune in greenbacks through some thorny plot twists. Leonard gets a bit long-winded describing turn-of-the-century Havana and the Cuban economy, but his bad guys and good guys, who often can't decide which side of the line they're on, keep this wonderful romp bayonet-sharp and galloping along at a breathless pace. (Delacorte, $23.95)
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