Still, this young British writer (born in 1977) is so scolding in tone that her book is harder to finish than it should be. Once you pick it up you will not put it down. You will come away with an infinitely better understanding of the challenges and perils of being "unwhite" and living in close proximity to a nation who's leadership is at once arrogant, imperialist, brutish and incompetent. Steeped in new material and eyewitness reports, Red Heat is an authoritative account of a wildly dramatic and dangerous era of international politics that has … Steeped in new material and eyewitness reports, Red Heat is an authoritative account of a wildly dramatic and dangerous era of international politics that … The hero is sexy and noble and made me wish I had a Russian submarine captain of my own. "Red Heat" is a history book that reads like the best of the fiction genre. I admit, I was pretty skeptical about this story. One impressive feature of the book is the comprehensive research shown by the author, Alex Van Tunzelmann. Nikolai is a decorated Russian submarine captain whose last decision to rescue survivors earned him a demotion to a rickety low level submarine that should have been sent to the ship yard ages ago. Red Heat is a fantastic new book that lovers of hot suspense will greatly enjoy! Red Heat is a fascinating read of the Cold War era events and struggle for power and money in the Caribbean Island nations-- mainly Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. It wasn’t. At first, it appeared to be an outdated wanna-be spy novel with obnoxious characters. “Red Heat” is thorough in scope and quite readable. Instead, Red Heat was a suspenseful, romantic story that was difficult to put down.