Tucker's Last Stand

by William F. Buckley Jr.

Overview

The year is 1964. Faced with a tough presidential campaign and a deteriorating situation in Vietnam, Lyndon Johnson dispatches superagent Blackford Oakes on a mission to Southeast Asia. With him goes Tucker Montana, a character as colorful as his background is shady.

They have two goals: Tucker to plot interdiction on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Oakes to oversee a secret operation in the Tonkin Gulf--an operation that will give Johnson the excuse he needs for a greater U.S. military role in Vietnam.

"Tense, chilling, unflaggingly lively...a romp and something more." (The Wall Street Journal)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620453636
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/01/1998
Series:	Blackford Oakes Mysteries
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	324
File size:	715 KB

Editorial Reviews

Occupied more by politics than adventure, Buckley builds his ninth Blackford Oakes tale ( Mongoose, R.I.P ) around the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed by Congress a few months prior to the 1964 U.S. presidential election. CIA operative Blackie and an Army special projects major named Tucker Montana meet in Vietnam, where Tucker's assignment is to stall the movement of troops and materiel down the Ho Chi Minh Trail and Blackie must stop similar shipments in the Gulf. Tucker, a priapic engineer who worked at Los Alamos, devises a brilliant plan, while Blackie outfits junks with radar to detect hidden cargoes. Meanwhile, back home, candidates Goldwater and Johnson spar, with Johnson eager to use the conflict in Southeast Asia to his own ends--resulting in clandestine maneuvers in the Gulf that leave even the patriotic Blackie feeling dirty. As Tucker's involvement with a beautiful NVA spy leads to its inevitable end, Blackie beds some local talent and converses archly in overseas phone calls with his recently widowed true love, Sally. A few sex scenes, a remarkable scenario at sea and fascinating glimpses of such Capitol figures as Abe Fortas, the Bundys and Robert Kennedy are ingredients in a story most memorable for the questions it raises about a still-troubling episode in our political history. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly