Wet Work

January 1, 1991
In his new novel, Buckley ( The White House Mess ) seems undecided whether to write a new comic caper or go for the action crowd, so he rather uneasily combines elements of both genres. Charley Becker, a self-made billionaire, dedicates himself to wreaking vengeance on the drug lords when his favorite granddaughter overdoses on cocaine. With a faithful collection of sidekicks, including a former New York cop and a trio of former Special Services agents called Bundy, McNamara and Rostow, he follows the cocaine trail from New York City's Lower East Side to Miami to Peru. There, in a climactic shootout involving his luxury yacht on the Amazon and an art-loving druglord, he is finally rescued by an agent from the DEA. All this Rambo-like derring-do, involving what is probably satirical use of high-tech gadgetry, is swiftly and skillfully handled but not very persuasive, as if Buckley's mind is elsewhere. And in fact it is the comic aspects of the plot that work best: a recurring joke about absolution, some magnificently befuddled and evasive Washington conversations about military and diplomatic ramifications. Buckley remains at heart a satirist and in that role is welcome; plenty of writers can do the action stuff better. Film rights to Paramount Pictures.

February 1, 1991
Grandfathers with nothing to lose are the most dangerous avengers, argues Buckley, whose The White House Mess (Knopf, 1986) is still going strong. Here, armed with his puckish humor, and drawing on the milieu of drugs and insurgency, Buckley unleashes a formidable senior citizen's vengeance when his only grandchild dies of a cocaine overdose. After disposing of her domestic predators, the old geezer sets sail in his yacht for the Amazon, bent on eliminating the Peruvian drug lord in his jungle redoubt. Buckley subtly merges the sheer entertainment of a good travel yarn with the vicious motivations of greed to produce a story that deserves a strong recommendation.-- Barbara Conaty, Library of Congress

Copyright 1991 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.