High Jinx (A Blackford Oakes Mystery) - Softcover

William F. Buckley Jr.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1888952520 ISBN 13: 9781888952520

Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing, 1997

Synopsis

The year is 1954, and Joseph Stalin is dead. As the ruthless Laurenti Beria, head of the KGB, plots to succeed him, another drama is taking place in a distant part of the Soviet empire. United States and British commandoes have begun a mission to overthrow the Soviet-controlled government of Albania, but it is doomed to failure from the outset--jinxed by a traitor.

In the aftermath of the disaster, CIA super spy Blackford Oakes pursues his adversary from a covert camp for training murderers to Buckingham Palace, from a KGB hideout in Stockholm to the very doors of the Kremlin. The result is a satisfying tale that brings this episode in the conflict between the West and the Soviet Bloc to a summary conclusion.

About this title

About the Author:

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) was the founder of National Review and the host of one of television's longest-running public affairs programs, Firing Line. The author of more than fifteen novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers, he won the National Book Award for Stained Glass, the second in the series featuring Blackford Oakes.

From Publishers Weekly:

Buckley's almostparfit knight Blackford Oakes is in England during 1954 at the start of the seventh story of his escapades. A joint British-American commando team parachutes into Albania to liberate the country but is immediately caught and killed. An "album" with pictures of the dead soldiers arrives at CIA headquarters in London, whereupon Blackford and his British allies set out to find out how Russian agents knew about the mission in advance. In time, suspicion centers on Engand's great scientist, a Nobel laureate, and his henchman since their days at Trinity College. Leaving Blackford for long stretches, the narrative focuses on Beria, head of the secret police in the USSR, and his efforts to manipulate events after Stalin's death. There is also agitation in Washington, where the Dulles brothers, President Eisenhower and others are disturbed by the possibility that Russia has cracked the code in which messages are exchanged between the U.S. and England. Buckley's ingenious plot and linguistic ballet show him in top form. Literary Guild dual main selection.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cumberland House Publishing
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 1888952520
• ISBN 13: 9781888952520
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 250