Review Detail

Suspect Red

Middle Grade Fiction 311

Excellent Exploration of the Cold War

August 21, 2017 (Updated: June 30, 2026)

Overall rating

5.0

Plot

5.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Richard and his family live near Washington, D.C., where his father does something secretive for the government. They live in a solid, middle class neighborhood with J. Edgar Hoover and other government employees. When a new boy Richard's age moves in, he's glad to find another kindred spirit who liked J.D. Salinger and other books. Vlad's father also works for the government, but his mother is from Czechoslovakia and seems to have somewhat suspect views. McCarthyism is spreading quickly in 1953, with librarians taking books like Robin Hood off the shelves and lots of public figures being accused of being communist. Richard's father (who was involved in enough mission in WWII that he has some intermittent PTSD) is involved in some of the government missions, and hopes that he can redeem a mission gone wrong by bringing in some treacherous Communists. Richard wrongly thinks that Vlad's mother might be dangerous, and tips off his father. As McCarthy's dictatorial ways start to fall into disrepute, Richard and his father become less and less sure that "witch hunting" Communists is the way to go.

Good Points

The details of daily life were fantastic, right from the beginning, and I didn't find any historical anomalies, which made me very happy! Like Wiles' Sixties Trilogy, the chapter start out with period photos and descriptions of what is going on in history. Unlike the Wiles' books, these are short and well placed, and really speak to what is going on in Richard's life. The comparisons to what is going on in today's government are not explicit, but clearly there. Harry Truman. That's what the government needs right now. Harry Truman.

The plot takes a while to develop, but I was so engrossed with the details of Richard's life that the pacing of the book still kept me interested.

There are starting to be a lot more titles that cover this period of history, and I'm so glad to have this to order for the fall! Brilliant depiction of a singular era in US history. I'll be adding this to my list of books that includes Avi's Catch You Later, Traitor, Holbrook's The Enemy Blakemore's The Spycatcher's of Maple Hill, and Rosengren's Cold War on Maplewood Street.