THE HOT COUNTRY

Ray Chase's characterization of journalist Christopher Marlowe Cobb sublimely captures his transition from war correspondent "fiddling around with a metaphor" while covering the U.S. Army in Veracruz to undercover operative shooting banditos and figuratively and literally dueling with the German emissary who is funding Pancho Villa's invasion of the U.S. German, Mexican, and even Canadian accents are lightly delivered amid vivid period detail and scene setting. Combat performances range from slow motion to breathless, but Chase is best at Cobb's reflective moments. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2012]