Active
Measures by Marc Cameron is a suspenseful thriller. With
the Cuban regime as a backdrop, this novel reminds Americans
how Cuba has overwhelming poverty, is a police state, and
a violator of human rights. The plot has a rogue general,
Zayda de la Guardia, wanting to enact revenge on America by
firing off a nuclear weapon left over from the Cold War.
Cameron describes where he got the idea for the story, “I
read somewhere where Robert McNamara heard a rumor that Russia
left up to 100 nukes in Cuba that could hit Miami. Although
the Russians eventually removed them, as a storyteller, I
started to think what if one was left behind. I decided to
let my characters respond to what was actually happening.
They were not very fond of socialism.”
Hoping to stop him, Special Agent Jericho Quinn and his team
have traveled undercover to Cuba. He is pursued by assassins,
captured, thrown into a secret prison, and trapped on the
island during one of the worst hurricanes. Yet nothing can
deter Quinn and his team from eliminating the threat to the
US.
Using Cuba as a secondary character Cameron noted, “When
I was in Florida after the hurricane, while still a US Marshal,
I spoke with a lot of Cubans. I kept notes about their culture
and put that in the book. The Cuban regime pitted neighbor
against neighbor and family against family. I did not want
to write a political story, but a story about people. The
politics is in the background just like the setting. Also,
weather played a big role. As a Marshal weather influenced
us how we pack gear, weapons, and how we would track bad guys.
I see weather as another character. The hurricane and the
buildings that are not built up to code allowed me to put
problems on the antagonists/protagonists. Hopefully, it adds
tension to the plot.”
This plot has nail-biting action and very likeable protagonists
as well as antagonists who are pure evil. Readers will be
on the edge of their seats as they turn the pages.
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