A review by jwmcoaching
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold

4.0

This is a highly enjoyable read, but it's not a great one. Gold's attention to historical detail and flair for storytelling are both highly admirable and this is a lot of fun to read. However, like his second novel, Sunnyside, he doesn't seem to know when to quit. The denouement is super long (as is the novel itself) and I kept thinking, "okay, this is a good spot to end it...no, okay...how bout this one? No? Still going...?" Speaking of Sunnyside, that second novel is as good, if not better (ESPECIALLY if you're interested in old Hollywood, i.e. Chaplin/Pickford/Fairbanks era). Gold certainly has a flair for historical fiction, I just wish that for his third one (and I do look forward to more from him!), he could learn to pare it down a little bit more.