The Redhunter

June 28, 1999
Buckley, ever the sage political pundit, chooses the foil of fiction to present his gently revisionist view of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The author reads his own heartfelt introduction, in which he reminisces that he "knew the senator" and calls him an "extraordinary man." He reminds listeners that McCarthy's crusade against alleged Communists in the U.S. government took place during "the darkest days of the Cold War." The novel itself is read with pleasant, smoky-voiced assurance by veteran audio narrator Cariou. A seasoned actor, he comes across wise, considered and compassionate. Thanks to Buckley's skills within the commercial fiction genre, the tale motors along with great velocity. McCarthy rises from his early chicken-farming days to seize ruthless power on the Senate floor. A parallel plot follows the career of World War II hero Harry Bontecou, whose life provides adventurous counterpart to McCarthy's. Buckley's wiles at turning an ugly historical episode into an adventure novel are considerable, and the result plays out as compelling audio. Also available unabridged. Based on the 1999 Little, Brown hardcover.

February 15, 1999
Not, perhaps, the most romantic protagonist. Buckley's take on the senator should be obvious.

March 15, 1999
One of the prolific Buckley's first works of nonfiction, coauthored with brother-in-law L. Brent Bozell, was "McCarthy and His Enemies" (1953), recently reissued in paperback by Regnery (1995). In "The Redhunter," the grand old conservative fictionalizes the life of Senator Joe McCarthy (D-WI), the politician whose anti-Communist crusade galvanized Buckley's early years in politics. The novel's frame is a joint effort by University of Connecticut historian Harry Bontecou and Lord Alex Herrendon to dig up the truth about McCarthy. Bontecou wrote speeches for McCarthy in Washington before entering academe; Herrendon was a British diplomat there--and a never-recognized Communist spy. (There are more labyrinthine links between Bontecou and Herrendon, but for those, you'll have to read the book.) After writing dozens of very popular mysteries, Buckley is expert at weaving together plot threads, and here, of course, he can draw heavily on the historical record. For readers who remember the '50s (and for those who don't), Buckley's re-creation of the details of McCarthy's brief time (four years) at the center of the national stage will be instructive. One can only hope readers will understand that Buckley, who still shares much of McCarthy's worldview, is telling only one side of this very complicated story. ((Reviewed March 15, 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)

May 31, 1999
As a fictionalized biography, Buckleys portrait of red-baiting Senator Joseph McCarthy is an earnest but plodding affair that occasionally yields intimate descriptions of the dynamic yet flawed leader who exploited fear of communism in the nooks and crannies of America. As a political novel, though, it makes peremptory claims regarding the postwar anti-Communist movement, with the well-known politically conservative author (Nearer, My God) attempting to justify the moral frenzy with a variety of uneven scenes describing Soviet infiltration and British skullduggery. Buckleys primary narrative vehicle is Harry Bontecou, a Connecticut history professor who tells the story of his involvement with McCarthy in an extended flashback. After graduating from Columbia, Bontecou goes to work for McCarthy, only to find his own passionate pursuit of conservatism betrayed by the senators penchant for half-cocked, extemporaneous accusations of treason. McCarthys proclivity for self-sabotage becomes more pronounced as his committee hearings progress, forcing Bontecou to distance himself from his mentor as the backlash grows. The depiction of McCarthys upbringing on a Wisconsin chicken farm is affecting, as are the scenes describing Bontecous moral dilemmas and McCarthys losing battle with the bottle. But Buckley is more focused on defending anticommunism than on developing his story line, and while he does note the travails of those working with McCarthy, whats missing from this account is the suffering of those whose lives were torn apart by unsubstantiated allegations. History seems to have offered a more balanced judgment on the McCarthy era, and the clarity of that judgment often makes Buckleys narrative seem dated and archaic. Time Warner audio; author tour.