I didn't go into this with great expectations, but I have seen Lawrence Block's books all over the place for the last 20 years so I figured I'd give it a try. Plus, some of the books in the series are pretty entertaining in an unpretentious, page-turning way. This is not. Some of the characters act wholly without motives and, at times, the writing is awful. I listened to this on Hoopla, and more than once I felt bad for the guy who had to read it out loud, even though he was paid for it. I usually reserve 1-star reviews for books far more pretentious than this one, but the writing was bad enough to warrant it here. ( )

Written in 1961, when Castro's takeover of Cuba was on everyone's mind, the story still holds up well fifty years later. Five men are recruited with one goal --assassinating Fidel Castro. It is never made clear whether the force behind the recruitment is a band of Cuban rebels or the CIA, but it doesn't matter. One of them is on the run after executing his girlfriend and her lover. He caught them in the act and pulled out his knife and acted. One is out to avenge his brother who was shot on Castro's orders. One is dying of cancer. The other two are tough hard types useful in this kind of thing. They are dropped into
Cuba in various ways. Well-told and well-executed. Their voices and characters ring true. And, yes, the woman in fatigues on the paperback cover plays an important role in the story. This is a first rate book. ( )

I enjoyed this book much more than I though I would! Basically, the title says it all - "they" are out to kill Castro, in two teams of two, and one solo. The chapters switch off - the story about the attempt, and the history behind Castro's rise to power. The story was much better than the history, but the history gives it all context. The crazy thing to me is that this book was written not long after Castro took power, and before the Cuban missile crisis! What did Lawrence Block know? Weird... ( )

Interesting to note that history has proven more outlandish then the ending of this book. Block's story boasting an eclectic collection of rapists, mercs, and revenge-seekers make for fast entertainment. The pulp prose sweats sex and violence through every pore. There's no doubt that only one character will fulfill the book's title promise, but the fun is in reading how the other killers end up along the way. ( )

This is good 1960s pulp made even better by the incredible, (then) fresh overlay of Fidel Castro's rise to power. Block weaves in a version of Fidel's story with the story of the planned assassination, and that's what makes the book, at least from an historical perspective. It also follows solid pulp writing guidelines in avoiding too much of a happy ending. ( )