Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold

A few weeks ago I was chatting about books with some well-read and erudite chums, and this was the moment when everybody expressed amazement and pity at my ignorance of a great favourite. I duly picked up a copy at the next opportunity.

It is, indeed, a very fine and enjoyable novel, in much the same vein as the masterpiece that is Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. Instead of comic books, though, the hook is classic magician acts of the 1920s. Gold weaves together history and fiction into an incident-packed story which keeps the reader guessing. The characters are endearing and, barring a bit of a tangle of subplots in the middle section, it makes for a really fun read.