Viper’s Dream

• Author: Jake Lamar
• Genre: Historical Fiction
• Publication Date: September 18, 2023
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Thank you to libro.fm and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.

For fans of Colson Whitehead and Wild Women and the Blues , Viper’s Dream is a gritty, daring look at the vibrant jazz scene of midcentury Harlem, and one man’s dreams of making it big and finding love in a world that wants to keep him down.

Harlem, 1936. Clyde “The Viper” Morton boards a train from Alabama to Harlem to chase his dreams of being a jazz musician. When his talent fails him, he becomes caught up in the dangerous underbelly of Harlem’s drug trade. In this heartbreaking novel, one man must decide what he is willing to give up and what he wants to fight for.

Viper’s Dream is a fast-paced story that is charged with suspense. A snappy, provocative voice and a stark look at Viper’s Black American experience weave with endless plot twists to offer readers a stunningly original, achingly beautiful read.

As someone who has seen the modern day Harlem but knows little to nothing about the history of the neighborhood, I couldn’t help but be curious about this book and the story it would tell. Nailing down the genre of this book was a bit difficult, since it falls under multiple genres—historical fiction, noir, suspense, crime, and even has elements of romance.

The audiobook is narrated by Leon Nixon, and he does an outstanding job with this book, going above and beyond in his narration. Not only does he manage a variety of voice tones, he also incorporates sound effects into his reading, which made this an entertaining and attention-grabbing story.

For a short audiobook (just over 6 hours), there is a lot crammed into this story. We start with Clyde “The Viper” Morton leaving his hometown in Alabama for Harlem, following his dreams of becoming a jazz musician. Unfortunately, his talent on the trumpet doesn’t lend itself towards making those dreams happen, so he winds up working in the drug trade. 

First of all, this was a fascinating view of Harlem in the 1930s through the 1960s, the thriving jazz scene that it was known for, and how it changed through those decades. While the jazz scene was legendary, it also went hand in hand with the drug scene. Many in the music scene used marijuana, allowing Viper a way to earn a living while still being adjacent to the jazz scene. However, some musicians were getting involved with heroin, which Viper firmly refused to sell, regardless of how it might impact his income. 

We get to see some of Viper’s character, but he’s the kind of man who shows you how he feels instead of talking about his emotions. He lives his life according to his own principles and values, but he sticks to them no matter what. And that might sound strange, considering the kind of activities that he gets involved with, but to Clyde, it’s important to have lines that he won’t cross and to be able to hold true to his word. The only problem? He can’t seem to have everything he wants, most importantly the woman he’s in love with.

There’s action and violence in this story—it isn’t a sweet and fluffy read, but that was the reality of the life that Viper lived. He lived and worked and operated in the gritty underbelly of the city, and lived a difficult lifestyle, but ultimately got to live life on his own terms and be around the jazz music scene. This was a fantastic story and it was so well told, although I didn’t love the last twist in the story. It felt a bit too over-the-top for me, but other than that? This story was one that I’d definitely recommend if you like historical fiction, stories about jazz, and crime stories.

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