Mongoose, R.I.P: A Blackford Oakes Mystery (Blackford Oakes Novel)

Rating:
Summary: Buckley's "Mongoose, RIP" entertainingly provocative
Review: As someone with little knowledge of the Kennedy years in the white house, given what we now know of the geo-political climate of the time, this book reads like a genuine, behind-the-scenes look into the Kennedy / Castro conflict. With ingenious characters and subplots, Mr Buckley provides the reader with an immensely entertaining, can't put the book down thriller. Blackford Oakes is a much more believable secret agent than that we are served up in any James Bond movie, more along the lines of a Jack Ryan, tenacious in persuing the aim of his mission. The flow of the story is exquisitely smooth and the surprise plot twists are most intriguing. Could these things have actually happened? Seems credible in hindsight...and a great read!

Rating:
Summary: The hero scarcely appears
Review: Chapter after chapter is devoted to Nikita Khrushchev's point of view, or Fidel Castro's, who are as cardboard as you might expect; thus any emotional "through-line" is lost. Blackford Oakes, the hero, shows up so infrequently -- I'd guess we see him in no more than one out of every six chapters. Which makes for a tedious read. Sorry.