This is one of those books that was in every shop window a while back, got great reviews and has been sitting in my 'Next' pile for a while. I'm usually suspicious of books that are supposed to be at that perfect intersection of commercial success and critical acclaim, but 'Carter Beats the Devil' is very good indeed.
I had always thought this must be a thinly-veiled takeoff on Houdini, but it's nothing of the sort. Even if you've never been a particular fan of magic or magicians, it draws you in and takes you along. And no, it's not a sword-and-sorcery type trip.
The key plot device of the opening chapters turns out to be a bit of a Macguffin, while the great secret at the heart of it may not strike us as all that important, but the book is well-written, it does move well and while others have complained of the sentimentality of the ending, Gold does make you care for the characters, so a happy ending is quite all right by me.
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