Stained Glass (Blackford Oakes)

This is the second in William Buckley's series of spy thrillers, and is at least as good as the first. The post-war setting is vividly presented, the characters are interesting and well-rounded, and the plot makes the book hard to put down. The book also looks explicitly at a question that usually lurk well below the surface of spy novels -- what happens when national interest runs into personal morality? On to the next --

This book is another great work, albeit a very different arena, by Buckley.Always a Buckley fan I picked this up as kind of an "off" interest.His fiction turns out to be just another dimension of his brilliance.Well thought out, well written and simply a good read.

Another great Blackford Oakes novel from William F. Buckley. We miss him. Glad his books remain with us.

Enjoyed this tale as much as the first and I’m looking forward to reading book 3. I particularly like the straight forward prose and absence of any “bond-like” persona in Oakes’ character. Very believable.

These books were written a long time ago but still come aliveSo well developed. Such wonderful character developmentJust a joy.

The world is poorer for the author's demise. All the Oakes mysteries have a mischevious voice and are great fun

First mystery by Buckley that I have read. Excellent plot, well written. I will read more of these mysteries. I recommend it!

The Buckley spy novels are different from what one expects of a book of the sort. Real persons of recent history are mixed with his fictional characters in a way that adds a feeling of realism. Expect the text to be salted here and there with long words to look up in the dictionary; for example "tergiveration" which is pretty much the same as "waffling". This particular book examines what the United States and Russia may have done if a political figure had emerged in Germany around the time of the Kennedy administration who was on track to win the election for Chancellor of Germany and who had the means and desire to force German reunification.