Books › Carter Beats the Devil
Carter Beats the Devil
576 pages
A grand, theatrical romp through 1920s America where history and illusion blur into a dazzling spectacle.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a front-row seat at a spectacular 1920s vaudeville show, complete with trapdoors, smoke, and mirrors. The narrative moves at a brisk, entertaining clip, sweeping you up in an exuberant blend of historical fact and audacious fiction. The prose is richly textured and cinematic, capturing the golden age of stage magic with a wry, affectionate tone. Beneath the dazzling illusions and high-stakes mystery, there is a surprisingly tender emotional core exploring grief, ambition, and the lengths we go to reinvent ourselves. It is an atmospheric, immersive experience that will delight readers who love sprawling, inventive historical fiction where the line between reality and magic is delightfully blurred.
- Mood
- dazzling
- atmospheric
- suspenseful
- nostalgic
- Tone
- wry
- theatrical
- affectionate
- adventurous
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the illusion of control · grief and reinvention · American ambition · the intersection of magic and technology · the burden of secrets
- The writing
- Exuberant, richly detailed, and cinematic, blending historical fact with playful, larger-than-life fiction.
- The arc
- Moves from a place of lonely desperation and grief into a thrilling, high-stakes spectacle of self-discovery and redemption.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love immersive, meticulously researched historical fiction that feels like a grand, entertaining magic show.
Content notes
- grief
- animal death
- mild violence
About the book
"America in the 1920s is a nation obsessed with magic. Not just the kind performed in theaters and on stages across the country, but the magic of technology, science, and prosperity. Enter Charles Carter - a.k.a. Carter the Great - a young master performer whose skill as an illusionist exceeds even that of the great Houdini. Fueled by a passion for magic born of desperation and loneliness, Carter has become a legend in his own time.".
"Carter the Great's thrilling act involves outrageous stunts carried out on elaborate sets before the most demanding of audiences. Night after night, in towns across the nation, he performs these masterful feats, bringing his unique brand of magic to those starved for wonder. But nothing in his career has prepared Carter for his most outrageous stunt of all, which stars none other than President Warren G.
Harding and which could end up costing Carter the reputation he has worked so hard to create."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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