Last Call for Blackford Oakes
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The brilliant CIA agent goes up against infamous Soviet spy Kim Philby in this “lively, entertaining” Cold War thriller (Publishers Weekly).
Blackford “Blackie” Oakes is the greatest spy in American history, but he’s no longer allowed behind enemy lines. As the former director of covert operations for the CIA, he knows too much to risk falling into enemy hands. But something has come up that requires him to go farther behind the Iron Curtain than he ever has before—and if he’s captured, he’ll have no choice but to take his own life. But Blackie doesn’t mind; he’s always wanted a chance to die for his country.
Previously, a team of assassins had targeted Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, and Blackie acted on secret orders from President Ronald Reagan himself to save the Russian’s life. Now, Gorbachev is in danger once again, and his death could reignite the Cold War just as it’s coming to a close. To avert World War III, Blackie infiltrates Moscow, where he comes face-to-face with the Soviets’ own master of espionage: notorious defector Harold Adrian Russell “Kim” Philby.
Witty and urbane, and featuring an unforgettable cast of characters both real and imagined, Last Call for Blackford Oakes is a delightful ending to one of the greatest espionage sagas in history.
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.
