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melkelsey's review
4.0
An excellent book! Well-written. Great story. An exciting read. I highly recommend this book! Thanks for the recommendation, Benj!
dbynum1's review
5.0
Only 480 pages? I could have sworn it was a least 700 pages. So many characters and subplots! When I was about half way through Carter Beats The Devil by Glen David Gold, I remember scanning through to the end to see if I could make It. I wasn’t bored as much as overwhelmed. I felt like this book would have made a wonderful series of books. There are so many good stories revolving around Carter the Great. Charles Carter was a real magician in the early 1900’s but this story has little to do with the real man. President Harding is an important character in the book as well as the creator of the first BMW and the creator of the first electronic television. All of the characters are extraordinary. You won’t find any “everyday people” in this book. This book had a larger than life feel to it, it’s almost like the author was winking at us saying, “I know these characters are over the top, but isn’t it fun?” - there’s a damsel in distress that doesn’t need our help, a villain with a black cloak and a blood thirsty dog and our magician that truly can get out of any scrape with the tools up his sleeves. It’s fun but very involved. I’ll remember the characters long after I remember what they did.
jmeston's review
4.0
Still reverberating from the smash ending. I kept laughing aloud as another callback was invoked and another expectation exploded. I was quite surprised to read in the afterward that (the Great) Charles Carter was a real person. The character was handled with so much knowing that I assumed he was a vivid fiction placed carefully in the historic setting. I enjoyed it as a visit to teens/twenties SF and Oakland. And the author's messages gave me pleasure: Recurrence is inevitable. Wonder is the purpose of life and it is the Devil who diverts us toward acceptance and fatigue. The only quibbles I'll mention are 1) that Charles' and James' father's outre interests are very important and then never mentioned again; 2) James and Tom's partnership is perhaps too modern. Really fun -- what great prose in the service of a truly creative and entertaining ride.
jessferg's review
4.0
I've read this twice, 12 years apart. I had forgotten the details but still think this is as good a book as I did in 2001.
It reads like a thriller - good pacing, some suspense - but the writing takes it's time and is beautifully done. A few characters aren't fleshed out enough but you still get a good sense of their assets and flaws which allows the plot to carry out believably.
I know nothing about magic and found that part a lot of fun, and it is a lot of the book, but I am sure even an amateur magician will see many flaws as the author himself admits no one should use his escape scenes as a plan. A fun read but definitely higher on the literary scale than one would expect.
I seem to remember that when I read this in 2001 it was about the same time I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and I thought there were some similarities in the writing and contexts so I guess I'll recommend it to Chabon fans but I also think fans of general historical fiction will find this amusing.
It reads like a thriller - good pacing, some suspense - but the writing takes it's time and is beautifully done. A few characters aren't fleshed out enough but you still get a good sense of their assets and flaws which allows the plot to carry out believably.
I know nothing about magic and found that part a lot of fun, and it is a lot of the book, but I am sure even an amateur magician will see many flaws as the author himself admits no one should use his escape scenes as a plan. A fun read but definitely higher on the literary scale than one would expect.
I seem to remember that when I read this in 2001 it was about the same time I read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and I thought there were some similarities in the writing and contexts so I guess I'll recommend it to Chabon fans but I also think fans of general historical fiction will find this amusing.
missnicelady's review
4.0
A zippy little page-turner about magicians, the death of Warren G. Harding, and the invention of television. Perfect for a rainy weekend or long plane ride.
svenseven's review
4.0
A very enjoyable book. The secret service parts were very enjoyable to read. The book as a whole feels like a carter the great magic show with several acts, daring escapes and much misdirection. Everything ties together eventually. This was a smart book in that when you think the hero is going to win he has another set back to overcome. You're never sure if he is going to make it. It makes the final act more tense as you go through the ups and downs and wondering what will really happen.
mrkellar's review
3.0
The first half was thrilling and then it kind of just ground down to nothingness. The end of the book redeemed it but it certainly wasn't a book that I was unable to put down.
woodge's review
5.0
This is a thrilling, romantic, fascinating book and will probably be my favorite book read this year. Carter Beats the Devil is a historically fact-based novel about magician Charles Carter who performed in the golden age of magic (1890s thru the 1920s). This story pits Carter against rival magicians and Secret Service agents who suspect Carter had a hand in the death of President Harding. I was drawn in from the get-go. This book is full of suspense, humor, and panache. It came highly recommended from Michael Chabon, author of the Pulitzer-prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (also an excellent book). Carter Beats the Devil is a richly imagined story full of wonderful characters and it has perhaps the most thrilling, exciting, whiz-bang conclusion I've come across in ages. Great, great book.