Sins of the Fathers: A Novel by John Blackthorn (1998) Ex Libris Used Books

In an era when embassies, army bases, and entire skyscrapers are blasted into rubble in an apocalyptic instant, this tense story of vengeance run amok is an introduction to the twenty-first century and is as newsworthy as it is nerve rattling. A sophisticated thriller in the spirit of Graham Greene, it is informed by geopolitical savvy and a storytelling talent that reveals how the Cold War’s most dangerous episode was far from resolved in 1962.Set on the eve of the Cuban revolution’s fortieth anniversary celebration, Sins of the Fathers adds a chilling coda to the Cuban missile crisis as an American historian finds himself caught in a race against the clock between the Cold War past he’s studying and a catastrophic act of urban terrorism whose seeds were planted almost four decades earlier. A purely academic project swiftly turns personal as subtle hints concerning dual mysteries accumulate at the edge of Professor McLemore’s consciousness. Who is the elderly man glimpsed in Havana’s rare shadows? Why does Sam Ramsay of the U.S. Interest office take such a special interest in an unassuming history professor? What could McLemore’s radiant interpreter, Trinidad Santiago, have to do with Cuban State Security? And if McLemore’s father left his wife and young son bound for Cuba in April 1962, why did he never return?As the sins of their fathers are visited on the sons and daughters of Cuban missile crisis veterans, McLemore discovers the missing piece of a deadly thirty-seven-year-old puzzle in Cuba’s dusty archives. But he doesn’t know where that crucial piece fits, and those who might be able to tell him have too many state secrets to conceal. After four decades of assassination attempts, disinformation, and dirty tricks on all sides, the CIA and the Cuban State Security Department aren’t about to trust each other. As the timer ticks inexorably toward New Year’s Day, 1999, both sides face a life-or-death decision–cooperate or perish.