Fantastic, imaginative and a rip-roaring read. If you are as fascinated with early 20th century illusionists and stage magicians as I am then you will eat this up. It's a real old-fashioned thriller that I think would make an excellent movie. I guess it would be ridiculously expensive to recreate all the theatrical mechanics of the illusions - but they made a film of The Prestige which was a bit heady for most people, I think. This would have quite a broader appeal. It's like an old-fashioned cliffhanger serial of the silent era. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was one of those "I-don't-want-it-to-end" kind of reads.

Based on the life of Charles Carter, an extremly popular entertainer during the early 1920s at the height of "Golden Age" of stage magic, the book tells an intricately plotted story of a war between magicians vying for popularity combined with political intrigue in the Harding administration. This edition has the added bonus of full color magic posters that serve as illustrations separating each "act" in the book.