Adios Muchachos

Alicia is a smart, confident and gorgeous prostitute in Havana. She is not a street-walker. Rather, she displays her wares on bicycle, seducing men through the irresistible pull of her fine derrière . John King, her new client, is a Canadian businessman with a striking resemblance to movie star Alain Delon. This is no ordinary “John” and Alicia's feelings for him grow; she sees in their relationship the possibility of escape from her dead-end life in a Havana plagued with scarcity. When John King’s wealthy and sexually deviant boss is suddenly killed, Alicia and John hatch a get-rich-quick scheme. A web of deception is woven, but just as quickly unraveled disastrously, and only one person is able to say "adiós” to the dilapidated island of Cuba. Daniel Chavarría was born in Uruguay in 1933. He spent the 1960s involved in several South American liberation struggles. He fled the continent and settled in Havana, Cuba, where he has resided since 1969. From 1975 to 1986, Chavarría worked as a translator of literature into Spanish, and taught Latin, Greek and Classical Literature at the University of Havana. His novels, short stories, literary journalism, and screenplays have reached audiences across Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Chavarría has won numerous literary awards around the world, including a 1992 Dashiell Hammett Award. Adiós Muchachos is his first novel to be translated into English. In 2002, Akashic Books will publish his mystery novel, The Eye of Cybele , set in ancient Greece. Winner of the 2002 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original. The first suspense novel in English-translation by internationally acclaimed Uruguayan mystery writer Daniel Chavarria, Adios Muchachos is a dark, erotic, brutally funny romp through the sexual underworld and black-market boardrooms of post-Cold War Cuba. Seen through Chavarr'a's compassionate but uncompromising eyes, present-day Havana is a crossroads for petty hustlers looking for an easy mark, two-time losers looking for a fresh start, and high-rolling international speculators looking to take advantage of them all. The novel describes the ill-fated alliance between Alicia, a stunningly beautiful prostitute who openly displays her voluptuous wares by bicycle on the city streets, and Victor King, a desperately ambitious Canadian businessman with an enormous appetite for kinky sex and buried treasure - and a striking resemblance to movie star Mel Gibson. Following an early erotic entanglement of their own, Victor hires Alicia to lure a series of handsome lovers into the bedroom of his estate for the voyeuristic gratification of his mysterious wife, Elizabeth, who watches the action with her husband through a two-way mirror. After a sultry drunken dance results in the accidental death of Victor's wealthy Dutch business partner, Rieks Groote, Victor sees his ambitions for wealth suddenly go up in smoke and Alicia faces the end to her dreams of escaping her dreary, dead-end life on the island. Hustlers all the way, the two quickly decide to turn disaster into opportunity, hiding the body in a freezer and hatching an elaborate kidnapping scheme that will allow them to steal millions of dollars from the Groote family and start a new life together off the island. Through a series of startling plot twists and slapstick misadventures, Victor and Alicia find themselves unwittingly manipulated and ultimately outmaneuvered by a sympathetic fellow hustler. In the end, everything revolves around the secret ingredient to an old family recipe and a long-overdue nose job - as only one of the novel's characters is able to make off with the loot and bid 'adios' to Cuba and the past. "The novel describes the ill-fated alliance between Alicia, a stunningly beautiful prostitute who openly displays her voluptuous wares by bicycle on the city streets, and Victor King, a desperately ambitious Canadian businessman with an enormous appetite for kinky sex and buried treasure - and a striking resemblance to Mel Gibson.". "Following an early erotic entanglement of their own, Victor hires Alicia to lure a series of handsome lovers into the bedroom of his estate for the voyeuristic gratification of his mysterious wife, Elizabeth, who watches the action with her husband through a two-way mirror. After a sultry drunken dance results in the accidental death of Victor's wealthy Dutch business partner, Rieks Groote, Victor sees his ambitions for wealth suddenly go up in smoke and Alicia faces the end to her dreams of escaping her dreary, dead-end life on the island.". "Hustlers all the way, the two quickly decide to turn disaster into opportunity, hiding the body in a freezer and hatching an elaborate kidnapping scheme that will allow them to steal millions of dollars from the Groote family and start a new life together off the island. Through a series of startling plot twists and slapstick misadventures, Victor and Alicia find themselves unwittingly manipulated and ultimately outmaneuvered by a sympathetic fellow hustler. In the end, everything revolves around the secret ingredient to an old family recipe and a long-overdue nose job - as only one of the novel's characters is able to make off with the loot and bid adios to Cuba and the past."--BOOK JACKET. This Edgar Award–winning Crime Novel Offers “pulp Fiction In Castro’s Cuba” (martin Cruz Smith, Author The Girl From Venice). Alicia Is A Smart, Confident, And Gorgeous Prostitute In Havana. She Is Not A Streetwalker. Rather, She Displays Her Wares On Bicycle, Seducing Men Through The Irresistible Pull Of Her Fine Derrière. John King, Her New Client, Is A Canadian Businessman With A Striking Resemblance To Movie Star Alain Delon. This Is No Ordinary John, And As Alicia’s Feelings For Him Grow, She Sees In Their Relationship The Possibility Of Escape From Her Dead-end Life In A City Plagued With Scarcity. So When King’s Wealthy And Sexually Deviant Boss Is Suddenly Killed, Alicia And John Hatch A Get-rich-quick Scheme. A Web Of Deception Is Woven—but It Will Be Quickly And Disastrously Unraveled, And Only One Person Will Be Able To Say Adiós To The Dilapidated Island Of Cuba . . . “fun, Fast, And Intelligent . . . A Madcap Caper Full Of Twisted Sex, Devious Schemes And High-rolling Hijinks . . . Will Leave Readers Clamoring For More.” —publishers Weekly “the Book’s Cynical Take On Ambition And Greed Is Tempered By Humor And Humanity.” —the New York Times “impossible To Put Down. This Is A Great Read.” —library Journal Fiction. Latin/Latina Studies. In Havana, Cuba, a beautiful young woman rides a bicycle through the city streets to lure men into her "services". Desperate to escape her dead-end life in a city plagued with scarcity, the luscious bicyclist designs a get-rich-quick scheme with a gorgeous john from Canada. A web of deception is woven and then disastrously unraveled When Alicia decided to become a bicycle hooker, her mother agreed to sell a ring that had been in the family for five generations.