Early Twentieth Century San Francisco Magic!
“Carter Beats The Devil” by Glen David Gold is an enchanting fictionalised account of the golden age of magic.
Themes of loss and bereavement, following your dreams, love and revenge intermingle with elephants and lions, pirates, magic, Secret Service shenanigans and a thrillingly sleight of hand climax.
Harry Houdini pops in and and out like, well, like an escape artist, but the real hero is Charles Carter, whose life Glen David Gold has heavily romanticised. This is to the book’s benefit, because the Charles Carter presented here is tremendously likeable - witty, enigmatic, confident yet self-doubting.
The mystery at the heart of the novel, the death of President Warren Harding, is presented as sleight of hand, but it wasn’t what kept me reading; what kept me reading was Charles Carter, and the world of magic through which he moved. The secrets of stage magic that are revealed are a fascinating bonus to a great story.
I’m looking forward to reading Sunnyside, Glen David Gold’s second novel, which places Charlie Chaplin at centre stage.
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