The year is 1961; the setting, Havana. CIA super-secret agent Blackford Oakes has been sent there on a mission, only to find himself in the eye of an international political hurricane.
President Kennedy has selected Oakes to meet with Che Guevara inside Castro’s Cuba as part of Operation Alligator, a daring plan to bring about an era of détente in East-West relations. The communists, however, have another agenda in mind: a double cross with terrifying consequences.
Soon, Oakes is trapped in Cuba, and the heat is on. Warming the climate greatly is the sultry beauty Catalina. The weather forecast: betrayal, power politics, and sudden death.
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"William F Buckley's favorite spy, Blackford Oakes, meets up with Che Guevara. Put away your Che teeshirt for this one - WFB is unsentimental about Guevara. As always, Buckley weaves history (here, the Cuban Missile Crisis) into his spy novels."
— Jim (4 out of 5 stars)
“Actual events are made as urgent and terrifying as they were in the bad old days.”
— Time“Buckley brings us face -to-face with the possibilities lurking behind our real headlines.”
— San Fancisco Chronicle“Narrator Geoffrey Blaisdell has a sophisticated style. His wry, and often dry, performance is engaging and keeps the listener glued to the story, which takes Oakes from the boardroom to the brig—and a date with a Cuban firing squad.”
— AudioFile“Buckley’s most successful attempt to shade his fanciful thriller-comedy into more serious matter of love, loyalty, and honor.”
— Kirkus" So far, the only book in Buckley's "Blackford Oakes" series that I've read. It's a clever spy story concerning secret U.S.-Cuba diplomacy. Recommended to fans of Frederick Forsythe, John Le Carre, etc. "
— Jack, 9/13/2013" A lil slow to start but good in the end. "
— Amloid, 7/30/2013" It's time for Oakes to retire. "
— Graf, 5/1/2011William F. Buckley Jr. (1925–2008)—a syndicated columnist, author, editor, television host, and adventurer—was the founder of National Review and the host of the Emmy Award–winning Firing Line, the longest-running public affairs program in television history with a single host. Buckley was the award-winning author of many bestsellers, starting with God and Man at Yale.
Geoffrey Blaisdell is a professional actor who has appeared on and off Broadway, in Broadway national tours, and in regional theater.