See You Later, Alligator

A Blackford Oakes Mystery

By: William F. Buckley Jr.

Narrated by: Geoffrey Blaisdell

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 his 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.

©1985 William F. Buckley Jr. (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Actual events are made as urgent and terrifying as they were in the bad old days." ( Time)

Great story spoiledby inept narration

I'm a fan of works related to the Cuban revolution and found this fictionalized account of events leading up to the Cuban missile crisis fascinating. I was surprised that Buckley's English isn't better after so many years at the National Review (his first language was Spanish), using terms like "bulwark" when he probably meant "bulkhead." Geoffrey Blaisdell's narration is weak at best. He attempts various foreign accents but they all come out sounding like Bela Lugosi or Boris Badenov. He never finds the right tone of voice to end a thought or a chapter. He may know how to act a part but he doesn't seem to know how to tell a third-person story.

You Must be a Buckley fan to appreciate this Oaks

Getting personal with the complex Che Guevara in 1961. Good twists on the Soviet to Castro relationship.?