Last Call for Blackford Oakes

This is my first Blackford Oakes book and it happens to be the last in the series. So, I am happily looking forward to reading all the others. And if this was one of the weakest of that series, as other reviewers here allege, it looks like I'm in for some great reading because I found this to be a most delightful book -- well-written, good plot, good characterization. Fascinating look at how things worked -- or didn't -- in twilight Soviet Russia. I think I'm going to like Oakes as a protagonist as I plow through the other books. All in all, it was a good and rewarding read.

My first forays into spy novels were at the learned hands of Mr. Buckley's super spy, and I am saddened to realize that there will be no more. LAST CALL is Oakes and company at their best. I picked up the book at 8 pm and finished it far too late into that very night, as I found it very readable and well thought out. Most of these stories you see through and wait for the ending, but this one made me want the ending to be further and further away. A must-read for fans of the genre, as well as fans of Mr. Buckley's elegant prose.

Bill Buckley is once again brilliant. This book is fun, full of suspence and has great historial footnotes. All the characters come to life and since Buckley utilizes real people as characters one has the sense that history is revisited here. Buckley is a brilliant writer and story teller. It is hard these days to find good, serious and fun novel writers, well Mr. Buckley is one of those. My only worry : Is this book his swan song?

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.

Although a huge Buckley fan, I have never thought the Blackford Oakes series was WFB's best work. Nevertheless, these lively spy novels are fun for his fans as they capture his unique voice and include his weaved in comments on historical people and events (Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Kim Philby, and Graham Green, among others). If you liked the previous volumes this one won't disappoint. The plot moves slowly at first, and is a bit chatty, but the tension soon builds as the rivalry between Oakes and Philby is rekindled. Oakes's personal stakes only add to the heat. The latter third of the book is quite suspenseful as the reader races to unravel the plot. The ending is abrupt but appropriate for the end of the series (or will WFB's assistant revive it?). Classic Oakes and classic Buckley.