The Havana Room: A Novel - Hardcover

Harrison, Colin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374299862 ISBN 13: 9780374299866

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004

Synopsis

The Havana Room is the tale of a man from his fall from the heights of power and wealth in New York to the moment where he might well die.

Bill Wyeth is a successful real-estate attorney in his late thirties with a wife and son, who, by the merest chance, loses everything: family, job, status. Unmoored and alone, Wyeth drifts toward the city's darker corners. Restoration seems unlikely, redemption impossible, when Wyeth finds himself in an old-time Manhattan steakhouse. He is intrigued by the manager, Allison Sparks--sexy, complicated, and independent in all ways. She also controls access to the restaurant's private bar. This is the Havana Room, and what goes on in there, he's told, is secret.

Wyeth agrees to help Alison's friend, Jay Rainey, in concluding a last-minute midnight real-estate transaction. As soon as he sees the players and the paperwork, Wyeth knows something is wrong.

Within hours, Wyeth finds himself tangled in Rainey's peculiar obsessions, which involve a Chilean businessman who feels he's been swindled, an old farmer frozen dead to a bulldozer, an outrageous black owner of a downtown hiphop club, and a fourteen-year-old English girl. Only Rainey knows the connections among these people, which are revealed when Wyeth is finally admitted to the Havana Room--where the survival of its inhabitants is most uncertain.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"[Harrison] Is A Master Of Mood And Atmosphere."-The New York Times
Bill Wyeth is a rising real estate attorney living the lofty heights of success. Then, a tragic accident claims everything he has: his family, his fortune, his Park Avenue apartment, and his career. But this is Manhattan. Bill has much further to fall. And tonight, it's by invitation only...

"Terrifying But Hugely Entertaining." -People
It's a private lounge nestled in the back of a midtown steakhouse, and Bill's the guest of its dangerously sexy owner, Allison Sparks. She needs a personal favor from him-to engineer a midnight trade-off in a shady multi-million-dollar real estate deal. For a man with nothing left to lose the set-up is too lucrative to refuse, and like Allison, too forbidden to resist.

"An Elegantly Crafted Thriller You Won't Want To Put Down." -The Washington Post
Bill is pulled into a nightmarish mystery-of a man found dead on the frozen grounds of a desolate Long Island farm; of a teenage girl stalked with unwavering obsession; of a psychotic rap impresario with a bent for the violent and bizarre; and of Allison herself, whose own
secrets have trapped an innocent man in the private hell of the Havana Room.

"The Havana Room has the raw, scathing commentary of The Bonfire of the Vanities and the pacing of The Firm, all rolled into one terrific read. This is Colin Harrison's best book yet." -Vince Flynn, author of Executive Power

Visit Colin Harrison's Web site at: www.colinharrison.com.

About the Author:

Colin Harrison is the author of, most recently, Afterburn (FSG, 2000). He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0374299862
• ISBN 13: 9780374299866
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400