Sins of the Fathers

In his debut, espionage novelist Blackthorn (""the pseudonym of a political figure,"" according to the publisher) turns to Cuba, the vestigial remaining turf of the Cold War, to try to cook up some credible spy suspense. As Jan. 1, 1999, approaches, the 40th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, a group of exiled terrorists plots to blow up Castro and his attendant public masses with a thermonuclear warhead--one conveniently left over from 1962's Cuban missile crisis. Two warheads were stashed away by a rogue Russian, whose son is now peddling them. American scholar McLemore stumbles across the scheme while doing historical research. His local guide, Trinidad, ""a disdainfully attractive woman,"" is an undercover intelligence operative who will eventually help him save the day. The plot is stretched pretty thin, especially in its abridged audio incarnation, and lacks any pull of real suspense. Reader Perez, while bringing Latin flavor to his character voices, strains with the overbaked material. Based on the 1998 Morrow hardcover. (Feb.)