A Good Day to Die — James Coltrane

A gripping novel of war set in the days following the death of Fidel Castro.  

"Renders tense emotions in a tale of a doomed mission and a search for redemption."--Booklist

In a Cuba of the near future, Castro is dead, but his crumbling regime remains, and soldiers, rebels, guerrillas, and The Company--the CIA--all vie for control.  War-weary and emotionally shattered after years of black operations in Beirut, Belize, and El Salvador, Jorge Ortega finds himself installed as the expendable americano leader of a small band of Cuban revolutionaries. The Company is planning a full-scale invasion, and they need a decoy: Ortega's mission, which two other agents died trying to implement, is to lead this ragtag bunch of rebels into the coastal town of Santa Rosa, storm the local radio station, and provide intelligence and support for the incoming troops.

But as Ortega prepares the rebels for the fight of their lives, he is haunted by nightmares of past Company missions, and begins to doubt that the invasion planned to support his offensive will even take place.  Meanwhile, his affair with Gloria, a beautiful but war-scarred rebel in his company, churns up stark memories of a death for which he cannot forgive himself. Smart, brisk, tough, and dramatic, A Good Day to Die tracks Ortega's three-day sojourn in Cuba and the heroic efforts of his small band of soldiers, in an extraordinary novel from a fresh and compelling American voice.