Dazzlingly entertaining, ceaselessly gripping, I loved it!

RELEASE NOTES:

Caught at the Shrewsbury meet up.

I really liked this book!

I have no plans for release as yet (toobusy with Christmas stuff), but will find somewhere to leave it in the new year!

Thanks for the book Jim!

RELEASE NOTES:

Collected from the Birmingham meet-up on Saturday.


Amazon.co.uk Review

With romance, magic and science as its central themes, Glen David Gold's impressive debut Carter Beats The Devil is an inspired delight, a dazzling combination of fact and fiction. Charles Carter is given his stage name "Carter the Great" by the legendary Harry Houdini and the jazz age of the early 1900s is clearly well researched, yet the romance and strong cast of characters must owe more to the imagination than to history.

The novel begins in 1923 with the most daring performance of Carter's life. Unfortunately, two hours into the performance, US President Harding is dead and the magician must flee the country, pursued by the Secret Service. This is only an instalment in Carter's amazing life though as we are guided from his childhood, where both the family servant and a circus freak bullied him, to his rise to stardom and his eventual performance in front of the president. Subsequently, the protagonist is crippled by loneliness, widowed and hunted down by those who believe him a murderer and yet he rises again and again to delight and fulfil the highest expectations of his audience. The strong narrative and storyline make for a compelling read. And Carter is such a magical character that you cannot fail to be touched by him--loving whom he does and hating his enemies.

This is an ambitious and compulsive novel and deserves all the praise that Carter himself received and more. If you like this, you may also be interested in reading Michael Chabon's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay --Hannah Smith

BOOK RING: This ring is currently open. Members are as follows (if you wish to join, please PM me and I will add you!):

• CaterinaAnna (Coventry, UK)
• lmjsmum (Oswestry, UK)
• baileybird(Brighton & Hove, UK)
• with riverwillow (Beckenham, Kent, UK) since 30 March 2007
• DianeO (Chesterfield, Derbyshire)
• ellie02 (Southampton, Hampshire)

How it works:

• If you wish to be added to the list, please PM me with your details.
• We will kick off once we have 5 members.
• You will be sending the book to the person who appears after you in the list, so you need to PM them to get their address!
• It's not a race, but please read and send the book on as speedily as you can, other people are dying to read it too.
• Please journal the book once you have received it (so we all know where it currently is) and again when you have read it (so we know what you thought of it!)
• If you're the last person on the list (i.e. we run out of members) the book comes back to me until there are more interested parties...

Oops! Has it really been with me a month. Many apologies. Am moving it to the top of Mt TBR and should have it ready to go within a week ...(best make that two, given how busy term is proving to be!).

Knowing little about the factual parts of this book, I was able to enjoy it as fiction. The development of Carter's character is clear, and he came across as one of the most emotionally consistent, and therefore satisfying, in any of the books I have read recently.

Will get on it's delayed way as soon as I have collected the relevant details.

Recieved today from Catherinaanna with thanks. It is next on my list to read, looking forward to getting stuck into it then sending it to continue its journey.

Came back from holiday and this book was waiting on the doormat for me :0) Am looking forward to reading it- but have another to get through first! Thanks for sending on lmjsmum!

Just finished this today- what a magical (yes sorry for the use of that word) story!!! Although it was a struggle to get started, once I was into the main section of the story I really was compelled to read on. The characters were complex and interesting, never quite revealing every facet to the reader, which left you guessing right to the end. Although at times the 'cast' list was difficult to keep a handle on, I felt this realistically created the effect that we were following Carter's life, and so naturally as with all our lives, people came wandering in and out. I also loved the healthy splash of coincidence and clever weaving in of real life events and characters. The descriptions of the magic shows themselves were breathtaking, really placing you right in the front row of the theatre, enjoying the spectacle as if an audience member- with a cheeky glimpse here and there of what was happening backstage (and dare I say it a few hints on how some of those famous magic tricks are performed!).

Overall a brilliant read- the oddity at times reminded me of the film Big Fish......

Thanks Alice F for sharing!
Have PMed the next person for their address

18/3/07 Have PM'ed next person again!

Was sent off in the post to riverwillow yesterday- enjoy!

Thank you the book arrived safe and sound with me yesterday. As is always the way with ring books they arrive all at once and when I have an essay due, so I am going to hide this somewhere safe so I am not tempted to read it and get on with my essay.

PM'd riverwillow for an update.

Firstly my apologies, I didn't get Alice F's PM back in March (I really have been having problems with PMsm sorry) and I've held onto this book for such a long time because of personal stuff and I will send it on its way as soon as possible I promise.

I loved this book, the twists and turns of the plot and Carter's engaging character. Wonderful. Thank you - and thank you for your patience.