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Rating: 
Summary: Decent
Review: A very decent book and an interesting read, but Buckley's
fictional account of some of Jim Angleton's anti-communist
work lacks enough detail to really prove engaging.
As a mystery, the story seems a little weak, but passable.
A more glaring omission is Buckley's usual detailed knowledge
and background, and we are allowed only the slightest insight
into Angleton's thinking and motivation. It's especially glaring here because the author has significant knowledge
of the events and eras covered, but he has chosen not to share
it with the reader.
Angleton was the CIA's Chief of Counterintelligence for 20
years, and he was one of the leading anti-communist fighters
of all time, and he devoted his life to that cause, and we
have to wish Buckley would have shared significantly more of
his insights and knowledge. Even in a fictionalized account,
the author could have easily added far more interesting details
and stories.
This work is barely an introduction to either the life and times
of the famous Angleton or to the enormous anti-communist
effort so many Westerners made for decades.
This is a book to read in between more serious pursuits.
Rating: 
Summary: Cold Warrior or Soviet Dupe???
Review: Being somewhat familar with this genre, I was quite amused with the back alley tidbits with which Buckley sprinkles this light hearted tome. Unfortunately, another work on Angleton, "Cold Warrior" does not give us a "House of Mirrors" portrait of Angelton to pose against Buckley's oh-so-clever innuendo & Georgetown gossip. But it is fascinating to see how Buckley portrays the Philby-Angelton connection, with Golitsyn as a Soviet disinformation Mephistopheles to feed Angeltons alcoholic paranoid delusions.One wonders if Angelton really slept with the murdered-on-the-Towpath Kennedy mistress, and retreived her diary to protect JFK or himself? Although Buckley mentions Hollis in passing [together with Burgess, Maclean, Philby & Blunt],the book ends with a sardonic choice: Was Colby or Angelton the Fifth Man of the latest version of The Trust? Both were not responsible for the Ames/Hanssen round, but both were in place during the Walker & Falcon/Snowman runs. Was Pollard an Angelton protege, ala Crespi? The Lovestone comments are worth the price of admission, albeit the technique was used by Nixon against Allende. One appreciates Buckley's discussion of the damage caused by NSA's Martin & Mitchell, and the Army Driver who was exempt from full searches entering and leaving No Such Agency, since he ran bootleg errands for the top NSA brass, before Costco & Sam's Club displaced the Fort Meade Exchange & Commissary. Orchids to orchids and dust to dust,
if the booze don't get you, Nosenko must. hUMPTY dUMPTY
Rating:
Summary: Cold Warrior or Soviet Dupe???
Review: Being somewhat familar with this genre, I was quite amused with the back alley tidbits with which Buckley sprinkles this light hearted tome. Unfortunately, another work on Angleton, "Cold Warrior" does not give us a "House of Mirrors" portrait of Angelton to pose against Buckley's oh-so-clever innuendo & Georgetown gossip. But it is fascinating to see how Buckley portrays the Philby-Angelton connection, with Golitsyn as a Soviet disinformation Mephistopheles to feed Angeltons alcoholic paranoid delusions. One wonders if Angelton really slept with the murdered-on-the-Towpath Kennedy mistress, and retreived her diary to protect JFK or himself? Although Buckley mentions Hollis in passing [together with Burgess, Maclean, Philby & Blunt],the book ends with a sardonic choice: Was Colby or Angelton the Fifth Man of the latest version of The Trust? Both were not responsible for the Ames/Hanssen round, but both were in place during the Walker & Falcon/Snowman runs. Was Pollard an Angelton protege, ala Crespi? The Lovestone comments are worth the price of admission, albeit the technique was used by Nixon against Allende. One appreciates Buckley's discussion of the damage caused by NSA's Martin & Mitchell, and the Army Driver who was exempt from full searches entering and leaving No Such Agency, since he ran bootleg errands for the top NSA brass, before Costco & Sam's Club displaced the Fort Meade Exchange & Commissary. Orchids to orchids and dust to dust,
if the booze don't get you, Nosenko must. hUMPTY dUMPTY
Rating:
Summary: Cold War Fractals
Review: Buckley's prose seems dictated, with minimal editing. His characters are mostly uninteresting and undeveloped, and the plot and story line are flimsy at best. Thank goodness I read a library copy; I'd have felt scammed if I paid hard-earned cash for this one. Come on, Buckley; it takes more than the profit motive to justify publishing novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, wrong personal obsession
Review: I have been concerned about finding an analytical book on "The Undoing Of James Jesus Angleton," as counterintelligence has been one of the strongest enemies which clear thinking had to face during his lifetime, and for far too long since then. Trying to understand this on an individual level which is much more familiar in the literature of our time, SPYTIME by William F. Buckley, Jr. uses the style of the typical mystery detective to muse on the inner confusion which drove the ideology of secrecy in search of "The Golitsyn Epiphany: the United States Government continued unaware of the lengths to which Soviet policy was based on persistent, systematic, dogged disinformation and deception." (p. 144). Chapter 56 covers Angleton's last 45 minutes on the job, from DCI Colby's "Effective at noon today you are relieved of all duties," (p. 299) but Colby didn't actually say that his job was being terminated, so naturally James Jesus Angleton kept thinking along the same lines as throughout the book, obsessing on what is going to happen to things in his safe at "almost two in the morning." (p. 302). The final chapter is clearly from Angleton's point of view. "I am doing an important exercise." (p. 303). In the end, the nature of Angleton's personal obsession is made perfectly clear, but the vast stretched time in which the book is set, skipping from December, 1962 (Chapter 36, p. 205) to January, 1966 (Chapter 51, p. 271) to November, 1972 (Chapter 52, p. 276) to February, 1973 (Chapter 53, p. 281) to 1974 for the final chapters, manages to miss the length of time the agency lost to confusion in unnecessary disputes, as: "On the matter of Nosenko, for instance, I [Angleton] ruled that his credentials were suspect." (pp. 291-2). If ever an agency did not want to believe what a Soviet agent was saying (the best example of a perfect failure since the great tragedy "Oedipus Rex"), it was whenever Nosenko was talking to the CIA, but the ability of intelligence to defeat itself is not what this book is about.
Rating:
Summary: Eloquent writing, well paced but not thrilling
Review: I think any bibliophile appreciates reading any writing by Buckley who makes the most simple passages eloquent and vivid. Reading Spytimes is no different (except for the sex scenes that were arkward and cumbersome). It was an introduction for me to this era of subterfuge within our government. I was not familiar at all with the historical characters of the novel, so I did not have the background data that other reviewers have possessed.
I found the book engaging but not thrilling or suspenseful. It flowed consistently and held my attention. It is good historical fiction, providing enlightenment and fabricating details to fill in spaces. This book is not lengthy so did not go into much character depth or background information on situations.
It is revealing about the CIA and counterintelligence process, as well as the divided loyalties of high officials. I'm sure Buckley draws on much personal knowledge to offer readers a realistic view of the intelligence realm of government.
I think it is a worthy read for those who have interest in spy stories and who appreciate fine writing. But don't expect to be blown away with intrigue.
Rating:
Summary: In Search of the Infamous Fifth Man
Review: SPYTIME is a fictional story which covers such historical events as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of Mussolini and the capture of Che Guevara in Bolivia. Many of the book's characters are real. In spite of its title the novel is not a spy story in the traditional sense but is actually written more in the style of an expose of the inner workings of the CIA.
Jim Angleton remains in the background throughout much of the story while the bulk of the spy action is handled by his young protege, Tony Crespi, who is stationed in Beirut. Angleton's main obsession as Director of Counterintelligence is the search for the infamous Fifth Man who collaborated with Burgess, Maclean, Blunt and Philby.
SPYTIME is an intriguing book for anyone who is interested in the Cold War and the CIA. Buckley writes with some authority about these subjects. The novel's greatest weakness is its lack of suspense and the ending is also a bit of a dud.
Rating:
Summary: A bit subpar
Review: This book lacks the wit and poignancy of the Blackford Oakes novels, and the ending is rather abrupt and ambiguous (perhaps due to Buckley's unwillingness to cast firm judgment on enigmatic historical figures, even though he clearly considers this a work of fiction.) It's a fascinating subject and a compelling read, but it's not Buckley's best.
Rating: 
Summary: An intriguing book
Review: William Buckley has in his later years developed a surprising talent for fiction, and he couldn't have picked a more intriguing subject to focus it on with this book than James Angleton. How does one portray a man like Angleton? The spy novel genre, as epitomized by writers like John Le Carre, tends towards heavily convoluted plots, language, and characterizations in the effort to force the literary vehicle itself into a representation of the dark and twisted ethos of espionage. And one might have expected Angleton, as the quintessential cold-war spymaster, to have inspired just such a brooding study. However, Buckley will have none of that with his book, and taking the opposite tack, he crafts his novel with the same crisp lucidity that animates his political commentary. Employing spare sentence structure, sprightly characterization and fast-paced narrative, he draws a portrait of Angleton that has nothing sinister or even particularly mysterious about it. The legendary CIA counterintelligence chief emerges from this as entirely human - flawed and quirky, but brilliant, loyal to friends and motivated by a sincere patriotism. Underlying the story, however, is a kind of sad commentary by Buckley on the tragic nature of espionage as a profession. Much like a good cop corrupted by the violence of a high-crime neighborhood, Angleton by the end of his career seems helpless against the pressures driving him into a paranoid pathology. Frustrated by his failures to detect genuine traitors in his own ranks, Angleton becomes suspicious of everyone and begins voicing reckless accusations. This being historical fiction, of course, we all know how the story ends. When the CIA comes under hostile scrutiny during the post-Watergate period, Angleton has few friends left able or willing to defend him from his detractors, and he is sacked from the Agency he had devoted his life to. In what must have been the bitterest of ironies for him, attacks on his own loyalty are among the charges that doom him. Buckley touches on all this only very lightly at the end of this short work, but the simple brushstrokes paint a poignant picture. Spytime is a very good book and I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing book
Review: William Buckley has in his later years developed a surprising talent for fiction, and he couldn't have picked a more intriguing subject to focus it on with this book than James Angleton. How does one portray a man like Angleton? The spy novel genre, as epitomized by writers like John Le Carre, tends towards heavily convoluted plots, language, and characterizations in the effort to force the literary vehicle itself into a representation of the dark and twisted ethos of espionage. And one might have expected Angleton, as the quintessential cold-war spymaster, to have inspired just such a brooding study. However, Buckley will have none of that with his book, and taking the opposite tack, he crafts his novel with the same crisp lucidity that animates his political commentary. Employing spare sentence structure, sprightly characterization and fast-paced narrative, he draws a portrait of Angleton that has nothing sinister or even particularly mysterious about it. The legendary CIA counterintelligence chief emerges from this as entirely human - flawed and quirky, but brilliant, loyal to friends and motivated by a sincere patriotism. Underlying the story, however, is a kind of sad commentary by Buckley on the tragic nature of espionage as a profession. Much like a good cop corrupted by the violence of a high-crime neighborhood, Angleton by the end of his career seems helpless against the pressures driving him into a paranoid pathology. Frustrated by his failures to detect genuine traitors in his own ranks, Angleton becomes suspicious of everyone and begins voicing reckless accusations. This being historical fiction, of course, we all know how the story ends. When the CIA comes under hostile scrutiny during the post-Watergate period, Angleton has few friends left able or willing to defend him from his detractors, and he is sacked from the Agency he had devoted his life to. In what must have been the bitterest of ironies for him, attacks on his own loyalty are among the charges that doom him. Buckley touches on all this only very lightly at the end of this short work, but the simple brushstrokes paint a poignant picture. Spytime is a very good book and I recommend it.
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