Last Call for Blackford Oakes (Blackford Oakes Novel) [Hardcover]

William F. Buckley Jr. (Author), Samuel Vaughan (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Blackford Oakes Novel | Publication Date: May 2, 2005

Over twenty years ago William F. Buckley Jr. launched the dashing character of Blackford Oakes like a missile over the literary landscape. This newly minted CIA agent--brainy, bold, and complex--began his career by saving the queen of England and quickly took his place in the pantheon of master spies drawn up by Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, and John LeCarre.

Against the backdrop of sinister Cold War intrigue, in this his eleventh outing, Oakes crosses paths--and swords--with Kim Philby, perhaps the highest-ranking in the parade of defectors to the Soviet Union. Oakes is now himself a master spy, working out of the agency and around agency rules. His romance with an able and worldly Soviet doctor provides consolation for the death of his beloved Sally. But after his return to Washington he receives dismaying news. It is inevitable that the great Soviet spy and the renowned American agent will meet again--this time, with deadly consequences.

Previous novels in the series include Saving the Queen; Stained Glass; Who's on First; Marco Polo, If You Can; The Story of Henri Tod; See You Later, Alligator; High Jinx; Mongoose, R.I.P.; Tucker's Last Stand; A Very Private Plot; and The Blackford Oakes Reader.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Master spy Blackford Oakes hies to Russia to thwart yet another assassination plot against Soviet Communist Party chief Mikhail Gorbachev in Buckley's 11th Cold War intrigue starring the aging but still intrepid CIA agent. Back in the U.S.S.R., he's introduced to attractive, 40-year-old Moscow urologist Ursina Chadinov by his former partner Gus Windels, a CIA agent–cum–public affairs officer with the United States diplomatic legation. Immediately smitten by Ursina, Oakes asks her to marry him, but their romance takes a backseat once Oakes encounters Andrei Fyodorovich Martins, akahis old nemesis, spy and defector Kim Philby. The plot to assassinate Gorbachev soon resolves itself, shifting the suspense to the battle between the two master spies. The struggle quickly goes awry for Oakes, who must then make tough, life-altering decisions. As always, Buckley imparts erudite sidebars about American history, literature and his famous acquaintances as he spins a lively, entertaining tale. Readers with a longstanding attachment to Blackford Oakes will be saddened by the novel's culmination, telegraphed by the title, but Buckley hints in the acknowledgments that the spy may "rise again" under the supervision of his researcher for this book, Jaime Sneider. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Blackford Oakes, who by sheer wit and charm might have won more liberals over to the conservative side than his creator Buckley ever managed on Firing Line, has been sent to Moscow by President Ronald Reagan (in 1987) to look into preventing yet another plot to assassinate Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. A previous attempt had failed, thanks to Oakes and colleagues, but the brother of one of the failed conspirators vows revenge. Oakes tackles the problem head-on but is challenged even more by his newfound love for brilliant Soviet surgeon Ursina Chadinov and his life-or-death struggle with notorious double-agent Kim Philby. Buckley purposefully if artlessly weaves real-life figures Reagan, Gorbachev, Philby, and author Graham Greene into his narrative, and he applies a credible, if rightist, historical context without seeming to lecture. Perhaps as a result, this eleventh Blackford Oakes tale is too chatty for its own good and will have to rely on the series' popularity--rather than the strength of its plot--to pull fans along. But those fans remain numerous. Alan Moores
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; 1 edition (May 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151010854
• ISBN-13: 978-0151010851
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #973,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life among the Oakes, April 28, 2005

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Last Call for Blackford Oakes (Blackford Oakes Novel) (Hardcover)

This is only the fourth Oakes novel I've read. My previous reads included Who's On First, Marco Polo (my favorite), and Mongoose. I look forward to reading these stories, but the amount of required reading I must do leaves little time. I must say, that Last Call for Blackford Oakes is a superb ending for such an outstanding spy. Buckley does a terrific job spinning the tale. I've always believed that Buckley writes his novels for the reader and never fails to deliver.

Its 1987 and Oakes is sent to the Soviet Union to prevent yet another assination attempt on Mr. Gorbachev. While he saves the hapless premier yet again, his life becomes complicated by a romantic interlude with Usina Chadinov, a Russian doctor, and also the continuation of his life and death struggle with Kim Philby his sworn enemy.

Like most of Buckley's books, both fiction and nonfiction, his use of the English language is wonderful. Buckley is to the point. He weaves a wonderful story that will keep you turning the pages. Even the slow start is quickly overcome.

I certainly hope that somehow, the series will continue.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bad End to a Good Series, February 9, 2006

By 

Markh (Ames, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Call for Blackford Oakes (Blackford Oakes Novel) (Hardcover)

Fans of the Blackford Oakes novels may wish to simply skip this book, which ends the series on a depressing note and which seems to have been written with total disregard for what has come before it. In the opening of the previous Oakes novel, A Very Private Plot, Blackford and his wife Sally are, in 1995, about to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary; in this book, which starts in 1987, Sally has already been dead for months. I understand that authors of a series that lasts for decades may need to contract or expand the aging process to fit the needs of a plot (and the use of this device in, say, the Matt Helm or 87th Precinct series has never bothered me a bit), but people who are dead should not be allowed to reappear years later. (Sally is not the only one who rises from the dead, but I won't give away any more plot points.) This book also seems to lack the literary panache of earlier Buckley novels. This is not a terrible book, but, like a TV series that overstays its welcome, there are, I think, one too many books in this series. Buckley should have quit while he was ahead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nostalgia for last days of Cold War, August 5, 2005

By 

Simon Crowe (Greenville, SC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Call for Blackford Oakes (Blackford Oakes Novel) (Hardcover)

In William Buckley's final (?) Blackford Oakes novel, the veteran CIA operative is dispatched to Reagan-era Moscow to thwart a plot to assassinate Gorbachev. The plot is half-baked, but Oakes unexpectedly finds himself involved in both romantic entanglements, in a network of dissatisfied Russian scientists, and in confronting the traitorous Kim Philby.

The best thing about this book is the depiction of Oakes, a man who realizes he's about to embark on the last chapter of his life. His passion for Ursina, the Russian doctor he falls for, is convincingly presented as a final grasp at youth. I was less impressed with the scenes of Russian bureaucrats bickering with each other (firmly standard issue) or with the cameos by real-life figures (Graham Greene, Ronald Reagan). Buckley has no insight into Philby, who comes off as merely a mustache-twirling villain.

Still, although a bit long-winded, this is a good read for anyone with a love of spy novels or an interest in CIA lore.