- Paperback: 672 pages
- Publisher: Hyperion (Sep 18 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786886323
- ISBN-13: 978-0786886326
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.1 x 4.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#194,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #90 in Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Historical
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
In Carter Beats the Devil, Glen David Gold subjects the past to the same wondrous transformations as the rabbit in a skilled illusionist's hat. Gold's debut novel opens with real-life magician Charles Carter executing a particularly grisly trick, using President Warren G. Harding as a volunteer. Shortly afterwards, Harding dies mysteriously in his San Francisco hotel room, and Carter is forced to flee the country. Or does he? It's only the first of many misdirections in a magical performance by Gold. In the course of subsequent pages, Carter finds himself pursued by the most hapless of FBI agents; falls in love with a beautiful, outspoken blind woman; and confronts an old nemesis bent on destroying him. Throw in countless stunning (and historically accurate) illusions, some beautifully rendered period detail, and historical figures like young inventor Philo T. Farnsworth and self-made millionaire Francis "Borax" Smith, and you have old-fashioned entertainment executed with a decidedly modern sensibility.
Gold has written for movies and TV, so it's no surprise that he delivers snappy, fast-paced dialogue and action scenes as expertly scripted as anything that's come out of Hollywood in years. Carter Beats the Devil has a mustachioed villain, chase scenes, a lion, miraculous escapes, even pirates, for God's sake. Yet none of this is as broadly drawn as it might sound: Gold's characters are driven by childhood sorrows and disappointments in love, just like the rest of us, and they're limned in clever, quicksilver prose. By turns suspenseful, moving, and magical, this is the historical novel to give to anyone who complains that contemporary fiction has lost the ability to both move and entertain. --Mary Park --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century San Francisco during the heyday of such legendary illusionists and escape artists as Harry Houdini, this thoroughly entertaining debut by an amateur magician with an M.F.A. in creative writing is a fanciful pastiche of history, fantasy and romance. The plot turns around the questionable circumstances surrounding scandal-beleaguered President Warren Harding's unexpected death on August 2, 1923, shortly after appearing on stage with the magician Carter the Great in San Francisco. Trapped without adults during the historic San Francisco blizzard of 1897, nine-year-old Charlie Carter discovers a book on magic in his father's library and entertains his brother with coin and card tricks. By the time he is 17, at the suggestion of famous "20-Mule Team" millionaire Borax Smith, Carter finds a booking with a seedy vaudeville troupe during summer vacation. Following graduation, he procures a more reputable booking and elects to postpone Yale for a year. At the end of his second tour, he is hooked and never returns to academia. Marvelously layered between flashbacks romanticizing the real Charles Carter's early years on and off the stage and later action in the mid-'20s with Secret Service Agent Griffin's conviction that Carter knows Harding's apocryphal secret, the saga has the dash of Harold Robbins and the sweep and erudition of E.L. Doctorow. As it unfolds as both mystery and historical romance, readers, long before the denouement, will be torn between the pull of the suspense and wanting the epic to go on forever. (Sept.)Forecast: Hyperion is putting $100,000 of marketing muscle behind this dazzling debut, with eye-catching cover art from a vintage magic poster on the front and effusive praise from the likes of Michael Chabon on the back, so prestidigitation won't be required to make it fly off shelves.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
He wasn't always a great magician. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
He wasn't always a great magician. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carter Beats Boredom,
By
This review is from: Carter Beats The Devil (Paperback)
I haven't been inspired to write a review in some time, but felt that this book warranted it. This is a truly, truly enjoyable read. Mr. Gold has a talent for being bold while at the same time inserting subtle themes in his writing.I hate reading reviews that just tell what happens in the book, so I'll just give a few opinions. This book features many colorful characters, some actual historical figures, some not. They come and go throughout the novel at perfectly measured intervals: just when you think a character has fallen by the wayside, he/she is reintroduced in a new light and with a larger role to play in the plot. "Carter Beats The Devil" is fun, engrossing, and at times even educational. It's definitely worth your time and money.
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am craving more Gold!,
By
This review is from: Carter Beats The Devil (Paperback)
I would love to read this book again. But what would be the point! I remember each detail as though I had read it yesterday.Just looked up my old review and was amazed that it has been 2 1/2 years since I read it. This will always be one of my all-time favorites. Glen, you are really Gold.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Story and Enjoyable Reading,
By
This review is from: Carter Beats The Devil (Paperback)
Carter Beats the Devil was a very enjoyable read. I enjoy fiction that refers to history, and this book was very interesting. I also enjoyed reading the references about Magic from that era, it really gives an interesting view of the theatrics that went on in that time period. As an actress myself, I was also very interested in the parts about the audience responding to the magicians shows. The book really shows an interesting view on people from that time period and how they participated in entertainment.If you are interested in Theater history in general, and want to read an interesting work of fiction, I recommend this as a very enjoyable novel to read.
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