There is something about a book which comes smothered with praise that makes me put it back on the shelf, which I did with this book again and again. I succumbed in a weakened moment and bought a copy and now I have to join in the chorus. A book with this much plot, a proper pantomime villain and old fashioned hero is a treat. Next time I have flu this will be my cure. ( )

A fictionalized account of the life and times of Charles Carter, stage magician.

I am over the bloody moon about this book! I feel like Glen David Gold compiled a list of all my favourite things, (well, most of my favourite things), and turned it into a great, big, wallowsome story.

Wallowsome is the perfect word for it. I became deeply involved in the story, but I still could not read it quickly. I hunkered down with it for four days, during which I often wondered how it was that the book hadn’t yet ended. I mean, I’d been reading it forever, and so much had happened, and yet it just kept going and going and going. I’d start getting annoyed.

Then something absolutely wonderful would happen, and all my annoyance would melt away. I was glad the book was long and slow and wallowsome, because I didn’t really want to let go of Carter and his magical world.

The theatrics alone probably would’ve been enough for me. Carter’s a stage magician at a time when stage magic is in decline, so there’s scads of stuff about his struggles to keep his act up and running in the face of dwindling audiences and financial ruin. Gold makes it all come alive. Carter is a fantastic character; he snuck up on me, slowly but surely, until I was truly committed to him. I felt his love for the theatrical life, and I was desperate to see him succeed because I didn't want him to have to give up his dreams. Even though the Overture makes it clear that he'll someday become a headliner, Act I tricked me into forgetting that. I worried about him constantly.

Then on top of that, there’s a big mystery going on in the background, complete with dead presidents and technological marvels and killers who slaughter innocents with decks of playing cards. I don’t want to say too much more about that, because I don’t want to ruin it for all of you, but I was quite impressed with it.

And best of all, Gold manages to integrate all his storylines. I’ll tell you, I thought the odds were against him. I thought I was going to find at least one part of the book unsatisfying. I didn’t. I mean, he definitely pays more attention to some things than others, but it all ties together in the end. It all works.

There were also a couple of little things that I reacted to on a personal level. I’m big on anything that deals with family, and I loved the relationship between Carter and his brother, James. They’re such great siblings. I also loved that James’s sexuality is almost a non-issue. It was nice to see, especially since I'd just finished a book with some horribly homophobic content. And the period detail... oy vey, do I ever love stuff set in the 10’s and 20’s! (I won’t be able to say that soon. People will scratch their heads and wonder why I don’t just say, “I love stuff that’s set in modern times"). Finally, I loved the animals. Baby and Tug are both adorable.

So me, I’m pretty durned happy right about this book. It tickled me pink and delighted the hell out of me. I urge you to give it a go at your earliest convenience.

(A longer version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

This is a thrilling, romantic, fascinating book and will probably be my favorite book read this year. Carter Beats the Devil is a historically fact-based novel about magician Charles Carter who performed in the golden age of magic (1890s thru the 1920s). This story pits Carter against rival magicians and Secret Service agents who suspect Carter had a hand in the death of President Harding. I was drawn in from the get-go. This book is full of suspense, humor, and panache. It came highly recommended from Michael Chabon, author of the Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (also an excellent book). Carter Beats the Devil is a richly imagined story full of wonderful characters and it has perhaps the most thrilling, exciting, whiz-bang conclusion I've come across in ages. Great, great book. ( )

I bought this because the reviews were great, but I was disappointed. I got half way through the book and realized I didn't really care about any of the characters, starting with Carter. He spends most of the book glooming about the tragedies in his life; it turns out at one point that he doesn't know how much money he has; the real Charles Carter, a successful stage magician, can't possibly have been such a nebbish. The ending (no spoilers!) was interesting and suggestive but the book just wambled along. ( )

Charles Carter was a real-life Magician who lived in America in the 1920's at the same time as Harry Houdini.
This thick volume of 560 pages describes his life in fictional terms which adds flesh to the bare bones of his life.
Following an essential preamble involving the President,the tale proper begins with Charles ,aged nine together with his younger brother James at the family home. Several events occur which shape their lives forever and mould the future career of Charles Carter. This career is to be that of the stage magician 'Carter the Great'.Many of his illusions are described,during the course of this book,although quite rightly not many of the solutions.
In the course of the story he makes both friends and enemies (one of the latter sets out to ruin,and perhaps to kill him).He also finds the two great loves of his life.
I found this book exciting,touching and really beautifully written.It held my interest right to the end and made me impatient for Glen David Gold's next offering. ( )

Carter beats the Devil is ultimately a whodunit, but Gold spends a large proportion writing brilliant back stories to the central characters. These back stories are what makes this novel, for me, a very enjoyable read. The plot is littered with sub-plots which can get lost some times but ultimately as the book comes together gives you a great sense of 1920s San Francisco. Highly recommended. ( )

This is a marvelous novel about Charles Carter, aka Carter the Great, a magician. It covers from his youth in the 1890s into his greatest show in the 1920s. Along the way the story involves Houdini, creation of great magic, two great loves, Philo Farnsworth and the creation of television, and a lion. Glen Gold has the talent to make it all work spectacularly. Recommended. ( )

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the characters, the plot, the interweaving of details and historical things. I can't recommend it enough! ( )

So much fun - a riot ( )

A very entertaining and easy reading first novel, with some clever twists to it. ( )

A really well written story, vivid and engaging. It's like a biopic, yet not too overwhelming or droll. Gold's prose style matches the sensationalist tone of a magic show at many moments inside this story. He builds his characters well, with villains to despise and a believable hero you can root for. I really enjoyed the glimpse into early 20th century San Francisco as well. ( )

I just finished "Carter Beats the Devil" by Glen David Gold. It was fantastic. Really well written, suspenseful, very well-drawn characters. I enjoy historical fiction, so this was a real treat. It's sort of a suspense novel, but also introduces you to the mechanics behind the illusions created by the magicians of the '20's, '30's and '40's (Houdini, etc.) It has great historical tidbits about the Secret Service and President Warren G. Harding too. I don't think it comes out in paperback until August, but if you can find a copy somewhere, I'd pick it up. It's well worth your time. ( )

Gold does a brilliant job of combining the fictitious with the historical, even bringing in the inventor of television, while telling a suspenseful and compelling story. ( )

I had a hard time getting into this one, for some reason, but after I put it down for some months, two chapters in, I picked it back up and literally put it down only for meals until I was done. Once it gets you, it doesn't let go. If you're interested in magic, definitely pick this one up.

I don't recommend reading this book over two months a little bit at a time, you may well end up as confused by the plot as I was. Why was everyone trying to kill him? What was Borax's relationship to Phoebe? Who was the third 'nut brown' person on the desert island, at the end?

Oh well, I thought it was a remarkable book, very much a first novel with, I imagine, a sympathetic and indulgent editor. The structure is unorthodox and the plot absurd, yet engaging and it is remarkable that he brought it altogether (well, I assume he did, I kept getting lost through reading it in five minute snatches).

I've never been much interested in magic shows but Gold writes description so well that I was fascinated by it all. He also does set-piece suspense well, and he has plenty such moments, there is a scene where Carter is cast adrift cuffed inside a sinking crate that I thought particularly well done. ( )

Read 300 pgs. gave up, great storyline but got tired of characters, didnt keep my interest. ( )

This book was so much fun to read I read it three times. Just thinking about it while writing this review makes me wish I were reading it, because if I were, I would be having such a super awesome time. I would probably be giggling. out loud. right here in the office. Carter is a trip, and the way Gold addresses the magic (by never revealing the secret) is phenomenal. The rapport he develops with his FBI tail is hilarious. This is my favorite kind of novel: it's fun to read AND it's good. ( )

Considering the subject matter I would have expected some authorial legerdemain but really this was a stolid, tedious novel and it took a lot of effort to plod through to the end. The overall effect was of an author trying far too hard and in desperate need of an editor. The book never seemed to make it's mind up about whether to go for historical realism or magical illusion. Try Hilary Mantel's "Beyond Black" to see how to meld the real world and the magical (or, in this case, spirit) world into a successful novel. ( )

Yes it was obviously a first novel. Gold seemed determined to cram every bit of research, every idea he had into this. Its length came not from padding but from an inability to leave anything out. a more experanced writer might have held some ideas thoughts and research back for another novel but I suspect Gold did not know if there would be another novel so in it went.

I do hope he has enough left over for another
Neal Stephenson is the only author I can think of who can keep that pace up for book after book. Since it is his first novel, his pride and joy he has obviously polished it with loving care. Rewriting and reworking it. Mr Gold obviously wants to be more than a journeyman author and this his first novel is more than an aprentice piece he is trying for a master work straight away.

Does he make it? Well the plot is preposterous. but I love complex plot.
and he, (like the secret service agent who did not see a mermaid)understands how and when to reveal and conceal, that most essential component of a storytellers art. His characters? Well a lot were mere sketched exagerations or nonentities. The problem of a large cast. but the pacing was first class. There was never a moment reading, whether about Carters childhood or his adult years when I was not eager to find out what would happen next, yet afraid of missing what was happening currently. I was emotionally involved throught. Amused sad or scared for page after page.

About two thirds of the way through I thought yes but this book was reccomended as an Adventure story. . I dont think this really qualifies engaging though it is. Then in the next chapter Carter is nailed in a packing case and I had to reconsider big time. There seem to be two disparate novels in this book Mr Gold is to be complimented. on marrying them so well. He is no mere journeyman. I look forward to his next novel he has a lot to live up to. ( )

Het Amerika van de jaren twintig is in de ban van magie: niet alleen op het toneel en in theaters, maar ook in de techniek, de wetenschap en de vooruitgang. De jonge Charles Carter maakt een overdonderend debuut als goochelaar en weet zelfs de grote illusionist Houdini te imponeren. Al bij zijn leven wordt Carter, wiens passie voor magie uit wanhoop en eenzaamheid is geboren, een legende.

De adembenemende show van Carter de Grote bevat stunts die in een vernuftig aangepast decor worden uitgevoerd voor een verwend publiek dat dacht alles al te hebben gezien. Avond aan avond voert hij in dorpen en steden zijn verbluffende acts op, de naar magie hongerende toeschouwers met open mond achterlatend. Maar niets in zijn loopbaan kon Carter voorbereiden op de voorstelling waarin niemand minder dan president Warren G. Harding een hoofdrol speelt. Met de grootste verdwijntruc uit zijn loopbaan zet Carter zijn reputatie, die hij met bloed, zweet en tranen heeft opgebouwd, op het spel. ( )

This book starts out great. By the time the end comes around, you absolutely love the main character (something that rarely happens in the modern novel). The ending was a bit too "perfect" for my tastes, but a fun read nonetheless. ( )

interesting characters (houdini included), and it revolves around the wonderful theme of magic. a simple story about a man finding his way through life, but with the added dimension of magic and some historical facts. it sometimes gets a bit draggy though, but overall a decent read. ( )

I just read half of it, kind of tedious here and there

A really great read for just about anybody. ( )