Great Americana novel, a fun mystery full of famous cameos. My favorite was Philo Farnsworth, an American who invented the TV inspired by the rows he observed in his family farm after plowing (there is a competing claim by a Brit). He saw his invention bought by the radio syndicates, who then proceeded to bury it for the next 25 years because they feared it would undercut their investments in radio technology, a great example of a new, better technology postponed by those with vested interests. It brought to my mind with what probably has happened with cleaner energy technologies, which have probably been bought and shelved by big oil. The novel also has a remarkably sympathetic portrayal of president Harding.

I really struggled with the first section of this book, 172 pages that should have been edited down to 72! It was so slow, dull and really added little to the overall plot.
However, as the second section progressed and the plot twisted and thickened into a mystery and thriller it improves greatly and I got hooked with wanting to know the outcome. Some big surprises and some that could be guessed from afar.
I enjoyed it finally much more than anticipated.

If the drop dead gorgeous design doesn’t grab you (then you ain’t got no soul), the ingenious literary misdirections, red herrings, and almost unbearable excitement of this fictionalized account of real life magician Carter the Great should do the trick. I was riveted throughout. My heart starts racing just thinking about it all.

Magic, thriller, period - three specific strands and together they make for a great book.

Set in the fictional world of 1920s magic, this references real people, such as Houdini, but the set-up is pure imagination.

Funny, entertaining, nail-biting and genuinely heart-warming, this is one of those books that not that many people have read, but should be recommended to everyone! I love it!

As a footnote, the author is Alice "Lovely Bones" Sebold's husband

dnf 22%

I enjoyed this book up to where I got to, and since reading the book 'Escaping From Houdini' of the stalking jack the ripper series I have become interested with this magician genre so yeah shows my enjoyment further.

Its just I didn't start this book at the right time as I'm just not bothered to read much currently.
But I will definitely come back to this one day.

"Basically Dan Brown with magicians" is what I wish had been written on the cover, so I would have known not to read this. Based to some degree on the real life of the magician Carter the Great, it also includes (sigh) references to the Illuminati and Skull and Bones, and some fanciful ideas about the last days of President Harding, who was apparently a real guy. It's suggested that Houdini was gay, a claim I can find zero supporting evidence for online. About the only things I trusted were the (weirdly persistent) jokes about Pez.

The whole thing is pretty amateurishly written, and Gold has only the barest control over his plot. The romantic bits are especially wince-worthy; this is a book given to sentences like "It had taken Carter all these tours to realize his most fragile prop was his heart."

Despite all this shittiness, the book rolls along in an adequately entertaining way: it's about fuckin' magic; even the most hapless treatment of magic is bound to be fitfully fun. (Get it? Bound? Oh, forget it.) But the whole thing is really immature, honestly. Immature.

I enjoyed this book. Some might call this historical fiction, but really the emphasis is on the latter. A number of historical characters and events swirl in and out of a highly imagined story of magician Charles Carter, who among other things finds himself wrapped up in the mysterious death of President Harding. Readers who enjoyed the novel Water For Elephants will like this. It's a bit long, but worth the effort.

What an awesome, perfect book! I can't believe it was the writer's first, either, it's 560 pages and never gets boring. I don't know how accurate it is, but according the blurbs, very. This books will totally take you back to about 100 years ago, before television takes over the entertainment world, and gives the reader a good feeling for what America was like back then, especially California. There are lots of historical figures that pop up, alternate history, Malacca Straights pirates, the first BMW motorcycle, the first tv, not one but two love stories, and they are both great and not at all cheesy, tragedy, revenge, revenge for revenge, an evil magician named Mysterioso, a lion that kills a yippy little blood-drinking dog, FBI flatfoot antics, daring escapes, gun and knife and fist fights, surprises and plot twists, brothels, man, just about anything fun and interesting you can think of, with a main character the reader cheers on from childhood till the end of the book. Super super badass book, and if I didn't have a couple hundred unread books glaring down at me from the bookshelf, I'd probably start reading it again right now. Well written, well paced, great ending.

This book felt like a hug. Just wonderful in every possible way. For fear of qualifying or diminishing that assessment in any way, I'll say no more.

This is a thrilling, romantic, fascinating book and will probably be my favorite book read this year. Carter Beats the Devil is a historically fact-based novel about magician Charles Carter who performed in the golden age of magic (1890s thru the 1920s). This story pits Carter against rival magicians and Secret Service agents who suspect Carter had a hand in the death of President Harding. I was drawn in from the get-go. This book is full of suspense, humor, and panache. It came highly recommended from Michael Chabon, author of the Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (also an excellent book). Carter Beats the Devil is a richly imagined story full of wonderful characters and it has perhaps the most thrilling, exciting, whiz-bang conclusion I've come across in ages. Great, great book.

Rollicking and enthralling. Greatly enjoyed two weeks reading this

just found out this is one of leigh bardugo's favorite books and since she is my goddess this must be amazing
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2.5⭐️——————————————————————
DNF @ 51% or page 252
....
i genuinely think that if i had been reading this at any other time it could have become a favorite book of all time. The anxiety i am feeling for school finals and just my overall depression is not helping me read dense adult fiction novels. I should have been smarter.

depression is the bane of my existence.