Everett Townsend is the unlikely protagonist of Harbor of Spies. Just 19 years old, Townsend has already failed out of the naval academy. The son of a merchant based in Havre de Grace, Maryland, he is captain of the merchant ship Laura Ann by default, her previous commander having been swept overboard during a storm en route to Havana. Although he and his father are both opposed to slavery, Townsend 's brother fought -- and died -- for the Confederate cause. His mother, a native of Cuba who rarely spoke of her past there, died shortly after receiving word of the death of her younger son,

Townsend's prospects in Cuba -- where both his cargo of lumber and his ship are scheduled to be sold -- aren't great. But trouble quickly finds him, in the person of Michael Abbott, an Englishman who has run afoul of the Spanish authorities in Cuba, where he has been accused of spying. Abbott's spontaneous escape plan from prison ends with him being hurled from a cliff into the ocean below, where sharks decide to make a meal of him -- until Townsend and seaman Clyde Hendricks pluck him from the water in the nick of time.

That's the start of an adventure involving political intrigue, an eight-year-old murder, estranged relatives, naval rivalry, seduction, a bit of romance, smuggling, spying, a wealthy grandmother with talk of inheritances, divided loyalties, a masked ball, and a great deal of debate over the morality of slavery. Cuba, where sugarcane is the pillar of the Spanish economy, is staunchly pro-slave -- and therefore pro-South -- with those in power arguing that the plantations would fail without slave labor even as they fear the constant threat of a slave rebellion.

Set in 1863, during the height of the American Civil War, Harbor of Spies sets Townsend down in a place and a culture about which he knows little. His inexperience weighs heavily against him, although he has good instincts at sea. However, circumstances force him to skirt the Union blockades of the southern coastline, delivering weapons and other much-needed goods to the Confederate cause, or else face imprisonment (or, more likely, execution) in Cuba.

That doesn't mean he likes his options, particularly when the beautiful Emma Carpenter expresses her disdain for blockade runners who aid the South.

Although he tells a good story, author Robin Lloyd doesn't have complete mastery over dialogue and pacing. Some threads go nowhere; Hendricks, for instance, seems destined to be a prominent character in the early pages of the book, but Lloyd uses him sparingly, only when the plot demands that he be there, and by the end he feels largely wasted. The character of a U.S. Navy lieutenant, a personal nemesis of Townsend's, is also left disappointingly unresolved.

Don't let that stop you from reading this novel, however, because it's packed with adventure. Lloyd draws heavily on Cuba's history at the time, including the unsolved murder of a British official, and Townsend ends up being a strong protagonist beset by a great deal of unwanted controversy and strife. Watching how he deals with his problems makes for an entertaining read.