Tuesday, April 18, 2017

{The Fiction Guild Tour} The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

Book Description:  Harry Houdini’s one-time apprentice holds fantastic secrets about the greatest illusionist in the world. But someone wants to claim them . . . or silence her before she can reveal them on her own.
Boston, 1926. Jenny “Wren” Lockhart is a bold eccentric—even for a female vaudevillian. As notorious for her inherited wealth and gentleman’s dress as she is for her unsavory upbringing in the back halls of a vaudeville theater, Wren lives in a world that challenges all manner of conventions.
 In the months following Houdini’s death, Wren is drawn into a web of mystery surrounding a spiritualist by the name of Horace Stapleton, a man defamed by Houdini’s ardent debunking of fraudulent mystics in the years leading up to his death. But in a public illusion that goes terribly wrong, one man is dead and another stands charged with his murder. Though he’s known as one of her teacher’s greatest critics, Wren must decide to become the one thing she never wanted to be: Stapleton’s defender.
Forced to team up with the newly formed FBI, Wren races against time and an unknown enemy, all to prove the innocence of a hated man. In a world of illusion, of the vaudeville halls that showcase the flamboyant and the strange, Wren’s carefully constructed world threatens to collapse around her. 

My Thoughts:  The first book that I read by Kristy Cambron was The Butterfly and the Violin (A Hidden Masterpiece Novel).  I enjoyed it so much and was delighted when I received this book, The Illusionist's Apprentice.  
There is so much in this read!  The connection between Jenny aka. Wren and the FBI agent, Eliot, was well written.  
The history  in this book was intriguing,  I'm not a history buff but I had heard some things about Houdini and found that Ms. Cambron brought out some interesting knowledge about is illusions.
I wasn't quite sure why Wren chose to dress in a man's suit, that just wasn't clear to me in the story.  But because of her life and because she is quite eccentric, I thought that maybe she didn't want to be noticed as a beautiful female. {Just a thought}  Being a woman in the early 1900's, especially in this profession wasn't well thought of, so I give Wren the benefit of the doubt.
The beauty of this story isn't just about illusionists but it's about the public illusion that goes terribly wrong and Wren must decide whether to stand up for right and help a hated man.  
An interesting and quite elaborate story.
I loved it!  

*This book was provided for review by The Fiction Guild/Thomas Nelson*

  • Paperback: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 7, 2017)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 071804150X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0718041502

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