Story: Carter the Great is showcasing his latest and greatest illusions, including the most complex of the show, “Carter Beats the Devil”. President Warren G. Harding is on a tour of America and attends Carter’s show – but is dead the next morning. Is Carter responsible for his death? And just who is Charles Carter anyway?
Review: This book is a complex mix of history and fiction, mostly fiction. Charles Carter really did exist, plying his trade from the vaudeville stage to the Orpheum shows to grand exhibitions of magic, rivaling magicians as famous as Harry Houdini. Glen David Gold takes historical fact and seamlessly blends it with fictional fancy that results in an excellent read.
Carter’s show includes an illusion that makes it seem as if a lion has eaten President Harding, a fate from which Carter seemingly rescues him. But the next day the President is found dead, surrounded by mysterious circumstances. A very jaded, zealous, and quite hapless Secret Service agent is immediately suspicious of Carter, but can never quite seem to get past the prejudice of his fellow agents to impress upon them how close to the truth his suspicions may be. Meanwhile, the author treats us to a retrospective of Carter’s life that includes some plainly weird and oddly symbolic occurences that act to shape his life as a magician. Add to the mix a very eccentric self-made millionaire, a dangerous rival and several colorful love interests, and you have a story that will keep the pages turning to the end.
I found this book to be quite engrossing from the start. The characters are well fleshed-out, including a terribly endearing Harry Houdini, Carter’s hero. I never found the story to be too far-fetched, although there are things that happen to Carter that are definitely out of the ordinary. His story is varied and unusual, but never boring. The roundabout way Carter gets involved with a fledgling device called “television” is convoluted and frankly amazing, yet not altogether unbelievable. I truly appreciated the subtle way in which the author worked in a gay couple, so quietly and unabashedly that they were there before I knew it. Many of the references are accurate historically, with much of the fictionalization of Carter’s life blending in and adding depth to the overall story.
Believe it or not, I read this book on Whoopi Goldberg’s recommendation. Not that she recommended it to me personally, mind you, but I was flipping through a magazine one day and came across one of those box-at-the-side-of-the-page articles and this book was what she was reading at the time. I figured, why not? I was not disappointed. Every time I picked it up it was with great anticipation, and there were several evenings I spent staying up way past my bedtime devouring the story. It was definitely worth it. Granted, the ending was a bit over the top, but the reader won’t mind very much at all because the story is well worth the ride. And after all, don’t you expect something with real flash when you’re watching a magician? Of course!
Year: 2001
Author: Glen David Gold
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 483