THE ACCURSED

Set in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Princeton, Oates's mystery features famous real-life people including Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, Jack London, Upton Sinclair, and Samuel Clemens. Dabbling in the occult, avoiding prejudice, and searching for the truth are three of the themes of this historical work. Grover Gardner narrates the story in crisp, practiced tones. He flawlessly weaves narrative with essential details that flesh out the facts or elucidate minutiae. Is there one story or many in this mixture of history and fiction? Gardner takes all the jarring asides in stride, using droll tones to portray the upper crust and their infatuations. Listeners are challenged to follow the complex plot, or rather plots, which take many hours to merge and reveal themselves. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2013]