In this, the final volume in the series of five novels that constitute his secret history of Cuba, Reinaldo Arenas paints a harrowing, and at times boldly entertaining, Kafka-esque picture of a dehumanized people living in a world where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death and a cockroach hunt makes for a national holiday. Narrated by a hate-filled government torturer who has become an agent for the Bureau of Counterwhispering, The Assault follows his travels through a blackly humorous shadowland as he winnow out whisperers, sexual deviants, and dissidents of every sort-until memory has been banished and spoken language has been nearly forgotten. | The Assault by Reinaldo Arenas, Paperback | Indigo Chapters