Havana Heat — Robert Lawrence Holt

In Holt's fourth technonovel, the principal characters from Good Friday ( LJ 10/15/87) reappear in Havana, Cuba, during a CIA operation to destabilize Castro's regime. Using characters that range from the U.S. president to CIA operatives and Marine Corps pilots, Holt designs an intricate plot that includes Castro and his top advisers. Throughout, the scenes shift from Castro and demonstrations in the streets of Havana to exciting descriptions of air combat between Marine Corps aircraft and Cuban MIG fighters. Good technical detail, believable depictions of Castro, and a gripping ending make this an entertaining work. As a technonovel, it is comparable to the works of Tom Clancy, Stephen Coonts, and Dale Brown. Recommended for public libraries.-- Harold N. Boyer, Marple P . L . , Broomall, Pa.