Bimini Run

by E. Howard Hunt

Back Death Waters! Hank Sturgis had ostensibly been hired to skipper the yacht Vela in its deadly hunt for the giant Manta-ray, but his was actually to be a more dangerous assignment--to act as stud for the lovely Leslie Crawford. There were man-eating sharks below, the savage rage of a spurned husband above. And before Hank would finally head the yacht home for Miami, the blue Caribbean waters would run red. As in his first best-selling novel 'East of Farewell' and his recent 'Berlin Ending', E. Howard Hunt proves again that he is a master story teller as well as a man of action. In this compelling narrative of violence and sex in the Caribbean, he exploits the knowledge he learned so well as one of the key figures in the Bay of Pigs invasion and in his twenty years as a CIA agent. From Inside Front "...the men spun wildly together, cursing and choking--forming a kaleidoscope of hate that moved in a frenetic unit toward the port seat. Sturgis saw a chance and jabbed the butt at Crawford's head, but a flailing arm turned the blow, pitching Sturgis forward, off-balance. Turning back, he raised the gun to try to end the madness, not caring which man went down--wanting only to stop the crazed struggle--but the men's knees lurched heavily against the seat, making a brief and deadly fulcrum that overbalanced their bodies and toppled them across the coaming and over the side into a swirl of foam."

Genres: Crime, Fiction

175 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

E. Howard Hunt was an American intelligence officer and writer. Hunt served for many years as a CIA officer. Hunt, with G. Gordon Liddy and others, was one of the Nixon White House "plumbers" — a secret team of operatives charged with fixing "leaks." Hunt, along with Liddy, engineered the first Watergate burglary, and other undercover operations for Nixon. In the ensuing Watergate Scandal, Hunt was convicted of burglary, conspiracy and wiretapping, eventually serving 33 months in prison.

He published over eighty books wrote under the pseudonyms Robert Dietrich, Gordon Davis and David St. John

From Wikipedia.

Reviews

[RANGER · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taut psychological thriller from real-life master of intrigue and suspense, E. Howard Hunt
Bimini Run is an early, potboiler-suspense novel in the writing career of E. Howard Hunt, well written and one that should have been a classic in the genre had Hunt focused on his literary career instead of his better known career as a CIA clandestine operative and political fix-it man.
Bimini Run has a Hemingwayesque feel to it due to both the subject matter and Hunt's sparse writing style. But the story lacks the existential depth that made Hemingway's work so rich. What we are left with is a story somewhat lean of soul about a down-on-his-luck gambler named Hank Sturgis who is hired to work aboard the chartered fishing yacht of a rich, decadent couple, Clay and Leslie Crawford. Over the course of Clay Crawford's obsessive effort to validate his manhood by landing a record-breaking marlin, the Crawford marriage disintegrates with Sturgis caught between the bitter, unstable husband, his shallow, alcoholic artist wife and the charter boat's captain, a rugged old salt with no patience for either of them. Published in the late 40's, the book avoids the gaudy in-your-face sexploitation of Hunt's later novels. Instead we are left feeling the raw temptation and emotions of worldly, cynical people trapped by their bad decisions in the same claustrophobic place -- a boat at sea with no place to run to or to hide from each other. The violent ending is predictable but still fascinating - like watching a slow motion train wreck. Unlike most of Hunt's later novels (many written under pseudonyms) Bimini Run is pure psychological suspense. There are no crimes to solve, spies to catch, drug dealers to shoot or bikini bimbos to jump all over the hero. It's a classic, one that deserves a fresh reading audience. Bimini Run remains the most interesting early work of the novelist, E. Howard Hunt. People who only know him from his Watergate "plumber" misadventure, his colorful career in the CIA, the ridiculous theories about his involvement in the Kennedy assassination, or from his later, exploitation action novels would be surprised to discover that Hunt won a Guggenheim Fellowship Award for his fiction in 1946. And Bimini Run was optioned to Warner Brothers in 1949 but never made into a film. It's a pity because the writing style clearly lends itself to screenplay. One wonders what might have become of Hunt as a writer had he focused on his craft instead of joining the CIA in 1950. But he did and the rest, as they say, is history.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old-school potboiler about a down-on-his-luck drifter Hank Sturgis, emotionally scarred from World War II and his post-war life of ups and downs. He's hired by a wealthy couple to mix drinks on their yacht, on a spur-of-the-moment fishing excursion. Turns out the couple is drifting apart. The husband uses his money to get he wants (overcompensating for his many personal failings); his trophy wife was raised in poverty, wanted to be an artist, and won't let him forget that he effectively bought her. He's a snob, she wants a real man, you see where this is heading. Throw them on a boat with a salty old Swedish captain, a surplus of booze, and too many guns, and you have disaster in the making.

Not a whole lot of crime content, to be honest, and the suspenseful moments don't always work. But Hunt's writing is so very slick, strong and capable and evocative. The rounded characters sell the book, carrying the sluggish plot with their drama and infighting. The finale is thus perfectly realized, building off earlier events. An enjoying and entertaining read, though it's more an introspection into Hank Sturgis's loner life, and the tense events on the cramped yacht, than a traditional crime novel.

Full review found here.