incredibly entertaining, educational on some politics and theatrics of the times. with the size of the book (mine was 662 pages) there is plenty of time to delve into many of the characters and develop them.

witty and enjoyable. good for anyone interested in historical fiction and looking for insight on magic and that time period. one i would reread.

(3.5 stars)

A pretty fun read, as long as you don't mind reading a lot about magic and magicians. Carter Beats the Devil recounts the fictionalized adventures of an early 20th C. magician, Charles Carter (Carter the Great), who becomes involved in the mysterious death of President Warren G. Harding and then with the teen-aged Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of television. (All real people, although the action of the novel bears almost no resemblance to actual historical events, as best I could tell from Wikipedia.) I loved the opening scenes of the book: during his renowned solo magic show in San Francisco, Carter performs a stupefying illusion (the one in which he "beats the Devil") using President Harding as a volunteer from the audience; unfortunately, Harding is found dead later that evening -- oops! -- causing Carter to be questioned by the Secret Service as a possible suspect in a plot to murder the president. We then have a long section that takes us through much of Carter's life and career. While I liked the first part of that -- about Carter's childhood and the beginnings of his interest, and ultimate career, in magic -- I felt that the book flagged a bit towards the middle, particularly the bits about the dimwitted Secret Service agent who's hot on Carter's trail. (About halfway through, I was thinking: why is this book so long?) But then I found the last third of the novel pretty much unputdownable; and I give the author credit for managing to make a number of the obscure and seemingly meandering scenes from the middle ultimately turn out to be critical to the plot resolution.

Yes it was obviously a first novel. Gold seemed determined to cram every bit of research, every idea he had into this. Its length came not from padding but from an inability to leave anything out. a more experanced writer might have held some ideas thoughts and research back for another novel but I suspect Gold did not know if there would be another novel so in it went.[return][return] I do hope he has enough left over for another [return]Neal Stephenson is the only author I can think of who can keep that pace up for book after book. Since it is his first novel, his pride and joy he has obviously polished it with loving care. Rewriting and reworking it. Mr Gold obviously wants to be more than a journeyman author and this his first novel is more than an aprentice piece he is trying for a master work straight away.[return][return]Does he make it? Well the plot is preposterous. but I love complex plot.[return]and he, (like the secret service agent who did not see a mermaid)understands how and when to reveal and conceal, that most essential component of a storytellers art. His characters? Well a lot were mere sketched exagerations or nonentities. The problem of a large cast. but the pacing was first class. There was never a moment reading, whether about Carters childhood or his adult years when I was not eager to find out what would happen next, yet afraid of missing what was happening currently. I was emotionally involved throught. Amused sad or scared for page after page.[return][return]About two thirds of the way through I thought yes but this book was reccomended as an Adventure story. . I dont think this really qualifies engaging though it is. Then in the next chapter Carter is nailed in a packing case and I had to reconsider big time. There seem to be two disparate novels in this book Mr Gold is to be complimented. on marrying them so well. He is no mere journeyman. I look forward to his next novel he has a lot to live up to.

I read this book when it came out and loved it! I read it again a few years later—still good! I loaned my mom my copy to read and it got lost in a move. A few years later I wanted to read it again. My library didn’t have it and I’d feel extravagant buying the same book twice so I forgot about it. A month ago, I walked by a little free library in my neighborhood and there was a pristine hardbound edition inside. Just read it a third time—I am still completely entertained by this book!

The best book I have read in 2018 so far and most likely one of the greatest and most enjoyable books I have ever read. Full review to come on the PolarBearAcademy blog.

Thrilling fun, one of my recent favorites. A great mix of historical fiction, history of magic, and suspenseful adventure. Made me want to read more magic history books.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I started it on a plane to D.C. and couldn't put it down- I stayed up all night when I got there until it was finished. It's historical fiction in the best sense and touches on so many things that fascinate me: the invention of television by Phil T. Farnsworth (see "The Boy Who Invented Television"), the Secret Service (see "Starling of the White House"), turn-of-the-century magicians (see "Houdini!!!," "Hiding the Elephant," and "Kellar's Wonders"), and the history of my hometown, Oakland (see "Oakland: Story of a City"). Full of mystery and adventure as well as historical fact, this is a MUST read.

it truly pains me to give this book only 3 stars. truthfully, i would rather say 3.5/5, but that’s not possible.
carter beats the devil started off as such a convincing and interesting read! i got through it swimmingly and absolutely loved it. then, however, came a part which was quite boring. it was difficult to continue reading. i really struggled. the last 100 pages were good again though. unfortunately, that dry period in the middle causes my rating to fall quite significantly, so from 5/5 to 3.5/5 stars.
i must say i absolutely loved charles carter as a character. he was so funny at times, and i thought it was particularly smart that he was referred to as charles when he was not seen as a magician (before he started with magic, after his first great failure which led to his brother stopping magic and him himself being traumatised), but was called carter when he was seen as a magician (his first “magic show” held for the gardener, throughout the rest of the book). that felt very satisfying and nice to me.
also, the relationship with annabelle and the relationship with phoebe absolutely warm my heart omg!! it was so sad but also so lovely, i don’t want to elaborate in case someone wants to read it.
but should one read it? do i recommend this book? if you are able to brave a slightly mind numbingly, boring part in the middle for the sake of a generally speaking well written book with many fascinating, gripping and nice parts, for sure! despite that one part, i do really like carter beats the devil, which is why it saddens me that its rating was ruined by its middle.

An engaging story of Carter the Great with fantastic illusions and fun historical tidbits.

4.25

My Opinion: The backdrop of this story is one of historical events mixed in with possibility. As a master of illusions, Carter grows from a child fascinated with magic to an adult who lives for it.

The details that went into the staging and magic acts were flawless. The descriptions gave me the illusion of being an audience member back when Houdini or Carter took the stage. I Iiked that the magic in the book was possible and still so amazing that you could hardly believe it.

The two love stories, though definitely not the center of the book, carried me from the middle to the end. SPOILER: My heart broke when Carter's first love met with tragic accident as part of one of Carter's magic tricks. I liked that he didn't just get over it and had to go through years of struggle before finding his final love.

I was awestruck at how the author took real events from the 1920s, like the death of President Harding, and turned it into a fantastic story that had me googling the internet to find out what really happened to the president and what Glen David Gold made up. What was even more fun was that some of the things COULD have happened. SPOILER: How cool would if have been for the real President Harding to escape scandal and find peace with his wife on a remote island? I mean, how did he come up with thus stuff?!?

Though it took me a few chapters to get into the book (some of the jumping around from character to character didn't get me emotionally engaged until later), overall the book was well-written and researched with enough surprise to keep me reading until the very end. I'm excited to pick up some more of Gold's books.


My Content Rating: PG-13
SEXUALITY: Moderate (references to prostitution and homosexuality--the red tie)
LANGUAGE/PROFANITY: Mild
DRUG/ALCOHOL USE: Moderate
INTENSE/SCARY SCENES: Moderate (mostly just intense illusions)
VIOLENCE: Moderate (agents getting beat up, attempted murder, death)

**Robin-approved for 18+ audiences**

This book took me longer than it should have. Partly I guess it was my fault, but partly also the book's. This is not a fast paced read, as I always hope big books to be.
Nevertheless, this is a fun book, with intriguing characters, an unpredictable story, many twists and turns that have you at the edge of your seat. There is a mix of action, character's past unraveling and magical shows.
I really liked the way this book was written, despite it being slow. I liked how so many of the character's were introduced and that you never got more information than you were supposed to have. In this aspect the author really played the role of the magician, never revealing everything to you.

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I really liked the first section of this book. The rest of it was a bit of a slog to get through. The writing just seemed a bit unfocused to me. Abandoned at the two thirds mark.