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In today's world of theatrical entertainment we take it for granted that a man can
fly, apes can talk, and a lifelike T.Rex can order up the entree of Stupid Explorer with a
side of Villainous Businessman. So it's difficult to imagine the sheer wonder and awe
audiences felt during the 1890s to the 1930s when stage illusionists and magicians might
saw a woman in half or make an elephant disappear right on stage in a torrent of flash
paper and mystic incantations. And while today every 10-year-old knows exactly how they
created the CGI effects for Shrek and The Matrix (and can probably do it themselves!),
there's something elegantly quaint about not knowing the inner mechanics of a visual
trick, but enjoying the ride anyway.
In his masterful debut novel, Gold works some literary magic of his own in an engrossing,
multilayered work of historical fiction that also embodies adventure, social history,
romance, and suspense thriller. Its central character is real-life magician Charles
Carter, one of the best-known performers in magic's golden age and a contemporary of
Houdini. When President Warren G. Harding mysteriously dies a day after taking part in one
of Carter's stage shows in which Harding is "killed," suspicion falls on the
magician, who is already burdened by the fact that scandal-plagued Harding has a secret
that can (and, in real-life retrospect, did) change the world. The rest of the narrative
jumps back and forth in time from Carter's childhood and stage career to a suspenseful,
page-turning climax with more than a few shocks and twists up its sleeve, not to mention a
bloodsucking dog.
Gold's writing is at its best in the sections taking place on and behind the stage and his
meticulous research into the show business of the era. Real-life arcane magic props and
supplies really pay off in making the reader not only visualize Carter's stage show in
vivid detail (according to Gold's notes, all of the magic described in the book was
actually attempted by performers), but in transporting readers into the heart of another
era. Just as finely written are the chapters on Carter's childhood discovery of "kard
and koin" magic and his early career, where on any page you might encounter Houdini
backstage; the pirate Tulang on the high seas; the Marx Brothers at a brothel; or inventor
Philo Farnsworth, whose creation is at the heart of Harding's "secret." There's
also a host of supporting "characters" that history buffs will recognize,
although you'll wish there was a factual appendix or guide. Less successful is Gold's
portrayal of bumbling Secret Service agents, both on Carter's trail and at war with their
brethren. It seems awkwardly dropped into an otherwise smooth narrative.
This isn't the first historical fiction to blend magic and crime --- in William
Hjortsberg's inventive NEVERMORE, magician Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes author, Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, team up to solve a string of murders based on Edgar Allan Poe stories.
But CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL is a more literary work than straight mystery/thriller. It is
also sparsely (too sparsely, though) illustrated with wonderful magician posters of the
era, including the book's cover from the real Carter act for which it is named.
Gold has created and recreated an era and imbued it with a solid story in CARTER BEATS THE
DEVIL. It's a fine introduction for an author whose magic is certainly sought after by any
scribe --- the ability to make pages rapidly disappear before your very eyes.
--- Reviewed by Bob Ruggiero
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