THE UNTOUCHABLE

Banville's novel about British spy Victor Maskell is a virtuoso achievement, creating a fascinating protagonist who comes alive in breathtaking complexity. Based on the real-life Anthony Blunt, Maskell is an aesthete homosexual and the curator of the Queen's art collection, whose treachery on behalf of the Soviets is publicly exposed only when he's deep into old age. As written by Banville and beautifully interpreted by Wallis, Maskell is brilliant, sardonic and acerbic, very likely the most fully imagined spy in all of literature. Wallis is a sly and often surprising reader who captures Maskell's chary wit and his surgical perceptions while never straying from the self-loathing Maskell bears as he surveys the hollowness of his long life. Listeners should be forewarned. The Untouchable bears no resemblance to a conventional spy thriller. Instead, it's an extraordinary delineation of a character for whom betrayal is both an instrument and a consequence. M.O. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 98]