Hold Tight cover art

Hold Tight

A Novel

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About this listen

A World War II sailor works in a New York City brothel - for his country. After being arrested in a gay brothel in New York during a raid, Seaman Second Class Hank Fayette doesn't understand why his homosexual activities are grounds for imprisonment. The brothel is rumored to be a hangout for Nazi spies and the Navy forces Hank to go undercover as a prostitute.

They hope to use clandestine sexuality to retrieve clandestine intelligence. However, after Hank becomes friendly with a black teenager named Juke, nothing seems to go as planned. Hold Tight is a World War II thriller set in the Big Band era, a world where sexuality and race can be equally dangerous.

©1988 Christopher Bram (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Literary Fiction Literary History & Criticism Literature & Fiction Military Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Thriller & Suspense War & Military New York Espionage
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In fact, sometimes it's confusion all round.

The story is a fairly straightforward spy thriller. It's given much more nuance by the scenes of Black and queer lives in 1940s New York. That aspect generates more interest than any other. The confusion comes from the author's habit of head-hopping. Changes in POVs are unflagged and in some chapters, happen at a dizzying speed. It can be disorientating to listen to several paragraphs and not be sure who the character is. Maybe it's a deliberate ploy on the author's part. That's their privilege, but this reader didn't appreciate it.

Confusion to the enemy

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