From the opening map showing Cuba gazing up to the Florida Keys. then facing east toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic, then finally across the MONA PASSAGE to tiny Puerto Rico, the author draws readers into a compelling tale.
Galen and his father, Gustavo, endure a horrific departure from their family in Cuba and for a life in The Florida Keys. After his father's death, Galen moves to Puerto Rico where he opens a small and successful diner. For some reason, he waits twenty years to return to see his mother, now deceased, and his sister.
He and Pat, a young Coast Guard officer who regularly patrols the Mona Passage, become so close that Galen asks him for a smuggling favor of information for his disabled sister still in Cuba. Galen does not handle the information well and so endangers both the career and future decent life of his friend.
That was the only part of the lengthy story that felt contrived.
Why Pat takes this so lightly and how he thinks Galen can ever be happy now is a real mystery.
Galen and his father, Gustavo, endure a horrific departure from their family in Cuba and for a life in The Florida Keys. After his father's death, Galen moves to Puerto Rico where he opens a small and successful diner. For some reason, he waits twenty years to return to see his mother, now deceased, and his sister.
He and Pat, a young Coast Guard officer who regularly patrols the Mona Passage, become so close that Galen asks him for a smuggling favor of information for his disabled sister still in Cuba. Galen does not handle the information well and so endangers both the career and future decent life of his friend.
That was the only part of the lengthy story that felt contrived.
Why Pat takes this so lightly and how he thinks Galen can ever be happy now is a real mystery.