Surprise pressie from Clare in Croydon AND Psyché ranimée par le baiser de l'Amour1787 fridge magnet from the Louvre AND what fun - Waitrose Weekend supplement complete with Lulu at 61 and a sudoku on the back.

Thank you Clare!

First line - On Friday, August third, 1923, the morning after President Harding's death, reporters followed the widow, the Vice President, and Charles Carter, the magician.

Carter Beats the Devil was set up superbly. I loved the way in which Glen David Gold really brought the early years of Carter alive and how these early childhood experiences influenced the magician he was to become. There was a pretty hefty amount of research undertaken in this project, and Gold really captures the atmosphere of the 1920's, with magicians vying to outdo each-other at every step.

Unfortunately, for me, what followed this impressive start, quickly descended into a confusing tangle of plot lines and characters.I can't help but feel that Gold wasn't sure if he was writing a fictionalised biography or a mystery novel. At times I felt large sections of the narrative suffered from over exposition. For me the story lacked focus, with too much time spend on accessory characters, and not enough on the story of Carter, which was built up superbly in the first section.

To his credit, Gold writes some pretty tense and exciting scenes, but unfortunately he'd lost me well before the impressive finale. For me this story had so much promise, but it was lost on distracting side stories which I found confusing, indulgent and unnecessary.

A mystery / thriller set in the world of stage magicians. Beautifully plotted, beautifully paced, it depicts the world of stage magicians in an amusing and informative way, and makes great use of magician's mis-direction to keep the reader hooked

"Tragedies with happy endings," he interrupted. "Never underestimate them."

I bought this book a few years ago in the clearance section. It was chosen as a book club pick, so I finally ended up reading it! Definitely worth it!

Even though this is highly fictionalized, it was obvious Glen David Gold did a massive amount of research. It read as though it could have been a nonfiction. Carter the Great, Houdini, President Harding, Philo & television.

This was a touch of Sherlock Holmes; a dash of magic; sprinkled with romance. A highly entertaining adventure!

It would have benefited from a few hundred pages less in my opinion, however. It felt obvious at times that this was Glen David Gold's first novel, because it was wordy as hell. There were a few predictable twists at the end, but they were still interesting. I found it was a relatively quick read, even at 600+ pages! It was hard to put down!

The Braille on the cover is a fantastic touch. I love intricate little details like that. I had assumed it was the authors name, so I googled it. It is even better than that -- She Never Died. Which was mentioned in regards to Phoebe. It also seemingly resolves the open-ended mystery at the end. Fab!

It was magic.


(Popsugar Challenge: A book with more than 500 pages)

This has been quite pleasant so far, particularly if you like an old-fashioned rambling tale with some fun magic tricks thrown in. The story of Carter here is as if told by a popular writer of, say, the 1930s, which fits the time period (though that is a bit earlier) and the characters (who are drawn pretty broadly). I keep waiting for the mystery to start, since it has the feel of a Golden-Age mystery. But I guess the mystery will be tied in with Harding and before that we have to go along and see what Houdini is like. Stopping at page 200 but leaving the bookmark in, since I feel like I can put this down now and pick it up again and I won’t have forgotten anything crucial. We’ll see.

Really a very fun read, although parts of it are quite sluggish.

Bought this at op shop cos the blurb seemed cool - ended up ploughing through it, absolutely loved it, maybe the funnest book I've ever read. Part 1 (the first ~180 pages or so) is without a doubt my fav opening to a book, like ever, will absolutely be re-reading this at some point if not the whole book.

Very goofy and endearing, the plot charges ahead in really cool and unpredictable ways . Can tell the author absolutely mainlined research in prepping the rich and compelling historical backbone for the book (set in fin de siecle / 1920s San Francisco featuring quite a few fictionalised versions of famous magicians, politicians, business people etc). Had some absolutely masterful passages describing the magic shows in the book, very immersive and they nailed the sense of wonder - I found myself looking forward to these sections a lot, not to say that the other stuff wasn't great too, just more like they were so fun to read. It's pretty long (~550 pages), but even though a lot is crammed into the spiderwebbing plotlines I never felt like it was dragging.

This book was not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it, nonetheless. It is an interesting story about a magician named Carter the Great. A bit of a tragic life, really. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite genres to read. I really enjoyed learning about the different people and places that were a part of this book. And the fact that it is mostly set in the San Francisco/ Oakland area was definitely a plus.

I ended up enjoying this book way more than I expected. There were a lot of liberties taken on the historical fiction aspect but it was still so interesting to read the perspectives of the time period and the history of magicians and the circus during that time. It was also fun to picture the parts that take place in old San Francisco. It was a little long/slow in some parts but I would still recommend it to others and I'm really glad I read it.

Loved this book! It took me a long time to read it, but it was well worth the invested time. I love historical fiction and this is one of the best tales, woven with fact and fiction. It's not a page turner, but the story definitely transports you to another time and place.

If you love Kavalier & Clay, this is a must read.

An abomination. The absurdities of this book are pretty close to unmatched in anything else I've ever read. A kid gets tortured and then his dad comes home and pays his torturer. The Secret Service throws a guy in a packing crate because... why?

The dialogue is painful. I went to the same school as Gold did, and you can see why he's so awful--the place was hell.