Carter Beats the Devil | Glen David Gold | Review
Carter Beats the Devil, by Glen David Gold, was one that
was recommended to me by a work colleague. She described the book to me and a
bit about the characters, and I knew I had to read it. Rather than just getting
it from the library, I bought it. I don’t normally just buy books based on
other people’s opinions, but I think I had a ‘ah, what the heck’ moment and
just went for it. I’m so glad I did. This one will be one I re-read at some point,
for sure.
Set in the
early 1900s, Carter Beats the Devil
tells the story of Charles Carter, a magician, and his journey through the ups
and downs of trying to make it in the magic business. I found that there were
two sort of key events in the book. The
book starts off at a similar time to when it finishes, and then jumps way back
in time and continues from there. If that makes sense... The first chapter tells the reader two
things: 1) Carter has bet the devil in his final performance of the night and
2) the President was found dead, just hours after seeing Charles Carter’s show.
After these
key points are established and the questions are raised (did Carter kill the
President? How does he beat the devil? etc), the story splits into sections.
Some chapters are from Carter’s perspective; some are from that of the detective
investigating the President’s death. The language used is very fun to read, and
though it’s long, the words used and the descriptions of things are such that
it doesn't really feel as long as it actually is. That probably doesn't make
sense…just go with it.
With
mysteries and questions, a lion called Baby, a disappearing elephant, a
skeptical brother, a woman called Sarah, and a whole lot of magic, Carter Beats the Devil is great read. The
characters were fun – and some, of course, were horrible – and there was a good
amount of humour as well as the serious stuff. There were a few chapters near
the beginning that I didn't think were all that necessary – details about
Carter’s life when he was very small, that I didn't really seem to link with
the future/present Carter – but overall it was very clever, captivating and extremely
well thought out.
Image from Goodreads
No comments
Post a Comment