THE VIXEN

Narrator Tristan Morris inhabits the first-person protagonist of this fine audiobook. Morris's measured pacing and thoughtful tone work well to create the mood of the 1950s at the height of the Red Scare. Morris's deliberate cadence and earnest tone add to the revelation of the mystery at the center of the complex, textured, and richly detailed story. Prose has created a splendid cast of characters who inhabit the demimonde of New York publishing. Simon Putnam, a recent Harvard grad whose name and appearance belie his Jewish roots, takes a low-level job at a prestigious publishing house. When he's inexplicably given an anti-communist potboiler to edit, the plot unspools. This historical fiction provides a grand listening experience. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2021]