Carter Beats the Devil

Carter Beats The Devil is a historical mystery thriller novel by Glen David Gold centred on the American stage magician Charles Joseph Carter (1874–1936).
Novel's title.
The title of the novel comes from Carter's evening length stage show, the third act of which is called "Carter Beats The Devil" and features Carter in a magician's duel with an assistant made up as the Devil.
Summary.
The 1920s was a golden age for stage magic and Charles Carter is an American stage magician at the height of his fame and powers. At the climax of his latest touring stage show, Carter invites United States President Warren G. Harding on to stage to take part in his act. In front of an amazed audience, Carter proceeds to chop the president into pieces, cut off his head, and feed him to a lion, before restoring him to health. The show is a great success, but two hours later the president is dead, and Carter finds himself the centre of some very unwelcome attention indeed.
Plot.
This novel is a fictionalised biography of Charles Joseph Carter. The main character, Carter, is followed through his career, from his first encounter with magic to his last performance. Along the way he encounters many historical figures, including fellow magicians Harry Houdini and Howard Thurston, United States President Warren G. Harding, BMW founder Max Friz, the Marx Brothers, business magnate Francis Marion "Borax" Smith, the inventor of electronic television Philo Farnsworth, and San Franciscan madams Tessie Wall and Jessie Hayman.
Most of the novel centres on the mysterious death of President Harding, who dies shortly after taking part in Carter's stage show. President Harding apparently knew of many serious scandals that seemed likely to bring down the establishment and it seems certain that he was assassinated by persons and methods unknown. Much of Carter's past is shown in the form of flashbacks as U.S. Secret Service Agent Griffin investigates the magician as a suspect.
The flashbacks chart Carter's early career including his first encounter with a magic trick, shown to him by "the tallest man alive", Joe Sullivan (also an actual, if obscure, historical figure) in a fairground sideshow, his first paid performance for Borax Smith, his rivalry with the magician "Mysterioso", his first meeting with Harry Houdini who bestows the title "Carter the Great" on him, and Carter's marriage to Sarah Annabelle.
Unbeknownst to Agent Griffin, President Harding passed a great secret to Carter: a young inventor named Philo Farnsworth has a new invention called television. Television is wanted by both the radio industry and the military and they are hunting Carter to get it. Carter must draw on all his magic to escape kidnapping and death as he seeks out the inventor. Along the way Carter meets a young blind woman with a mysterious past and encounters a deadly rival.
Finally, in a magic show to end all magic shows, Carter must truly beat the devil if he is to save Farnsworth and his magical invention.
Major themes.
The major theme of "Carter Beats The Devil" is one of seemingly impossible escapes. This theme runs from Carter's first glimpse of magic as a child when he is imprisoned in the cellar of his parents' house to the final, most impossible, death defying escape of all which he reveals only to Agent Griffin at the end of the story.
Another theme is the way different things inspire wonder. From early encounters with the world's tallest man and the world's richest man to the modern marvel of television and a really fast motorcycle, the book explores the sense of wonder experienced by both Carter and his audience.
Yet another, more subtle and underlying theme, is that of achievements being made in secret. Carter's greatest trick is performed to the knowledge of only a few close people.
Allusions/references.
To other works.
"Carter Beats The Devil" refers to many famous magic acts of the early twentieth century, and contains reprints of many theatrical posters from magic acts of the period.
In the afterword of the book, author Glen David Gold credits the writings of Nevil Maskelyne, David Devant, Robert Houdin, Howard Thurston, F. B. Nightingale, Augustus Rapp, T. Nelson Downs, James Randi, Harry Kellar, Ottawa Keyes, Ricky Jay and Walter Gibson.
The author also credits "Carter the Great" by Mike Caveney as a non-fiction biography of the real Charles Joseph Carter.
Other books the author mentions using for research include:
A number of traditional songs are sung in "Carter Beats The Devil" including "What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor?", "Blow the Man Down", "Sugar In The Hold" and "Good-bye Fare Thee Well", though only the lyrics of the first song are actually reprinted.
Reception.
Critical reception.
Janet Maslin in the "Books of the Times" section of "The New York Times" called "Carter Beats the Devil" "an enormously assured first novel...no small feat of legerdemain." A L Kennedy in "The Observer" stated that ""Carter Beats the Devil" is a big, mischievous, intelligent read – nice to see a bit of magic in fiction again".