"The Story of Henri Tod" is an action novel largely devoid of action. Buckley brings back Blackford Oakes, the CIA superspy protagonist of many of his novels, to wax philosophic, ruminate about the excesses of Communism, and muddle his way through moral dilemmas, but do very little in the way of suspenseful, high drama, cloak 'n dagger spysmithing.
A saving grace of the novel is its setting in 1961 Berlin with the action (what there was of it) occurring amidst the historically significant period surrounding the construction of the Berlin Wall. This makes the novel skirt the boundaries of historical fiction, but Khrushchev, JFK, Adenour, and the supporting cast of Cold Warriors are bit players at best.
A saving grace of the novel is its setting in 1961 Berlin with the action (what there was of it) occurring amidst the historically significant period surrounding the construction of the Berlin Wall. This makes the novel skirt the boundaries of historical fiction, but Khrushchev, JFK, Adenour, and the supporting cast of Cold Warriors are bit players at best.
