Review: Short story: "The Havana Run" by Ace Atkins

The Havana Run by Ace Atkins
Published March 2024 via Amazon Original Stories

In Florida, George and Jay have been given a task: fly down to Cuba and recover a buried treasure. They'll get some cash and an adventure out of the deal, and their sense of self-importance will get the sort of bump they haven't had since losing their jobs.

That is, of course, if everything goes to plan. And it should go without saying that there are red flags from the beginning...

This was a quick read, and it's always interesting to see something about Cuba. It felt rather pulpy to me, though (e.g., the only female character is a sexpot who does not keep all her clothes on, and George and Jay are awfully blasé about the possibility that they'll end up dead in a ditch somewhere). It's not a genre that I read a lot of, but I'm left with the impression that the author had considered this premise as the plot for a full-length book but couldn't quite make it ackle. Very much plot-based rather than character-based, and I struggled to stay invested in the external lives of these men when they don't seem to have all that much inner life going on, and don't seem to give that much thought to who else might be affected by their actions.

Will probably hit with a particular demographic, but not really my thing.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.