Night Magic by Thomas Tryon (Book Review)

My Review (4 / 5 Stars)

Wow. Just... wow. There isn't much more to say than that (but I'm going to try and say it anyway).

This book was amazing. A little unexpected, to be sure, but amazing nonetheless.

There's this young street magician and mime (Michael) in New York. He's got some skills, and he makes a decent living, but he wants more.

Enter a very old, and very experienced, magician (Max). Planning his retirement, he doesn't want to leave a void, so he needs a protégé. He comes across Michael, and decides the kid's got potential.

The story blurs the lines between magic and illusion. Does "real" magic exist, or is it all just illusion, when it comes right down to it?

The author clearly thinks it does, but Max isn't so sure. A lot of weird, creepy, and even freaky stuff happens, but even by the end of the book, the reader isn't so sure either... but they're certainly left with lots of think about.

If you enjoy magic, and you're even remotely interested in the occult, I can recommend this book.

It lost its fifth star because I spotted some minor editing issues, but that doesn't mean I don't still believe this is an amazing book. And to think I'd never heard of Thomas Tryon before. Now that I have, his books are going on my to-read shelf right now.

About the Book

A young magician will risk his soul to learn the secrets of the universe

Though he bills himself as the Greatest Magician in the World, Michael Hawke is painfully aware that he’s nothing more than a sidewalk. He plies his trade outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, entrancing passing crowds with feats of conjuring and sleight of hand. One afternoon, he plays a trick on a shabbily dressed man whose beard is twisted and whose glass eye gives him a sinister leer. Offended, the man responds with magic of his own, casting a spell that causes Michael to hop like a frog, maniacally splashing in the fountain until the police have to haul him out.

When he recovers from this trance, Michael knows that he has encountered a true magician, one whose secrets he will give anything to understand. But this is black magic, mysterious and deadly, and pursuing it will mean a confrontation with an evil older than civilization itself.

Click here to find out where you can get your copy.