The Illusionist's Apprentice

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes." Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of Baskervilles (1902).

Some people call it magic, others illusion, but only those on stage performing it in the limelight know the secrets that each act holds. Yet truth is the illusion we always chase and often times it is far from what we may think it is. That's the thing about secrets is that they always come up for air. They're never content to stay buried for long. For Wren Lockhart, illusion is all she has, and once it is broken, the story dies forever.

Training under one of the great magicians ever to have lived, Harry Houdini, she has acquired all his hidden secrets, and its those very secrets that some would give anything to possess. But for Wren Lockhart who lives what some might call eccentric lifestyle, trust is the one thing she can't afford to share with anyone, even if it means locking her heart away with it. She knows one thing for sure and that is secrets are best hidden in plain sight. If there is no darkness, there would be no opportunity for light to overcome it. That is the time when heroes arise.

For Agent Elliot Matthews, his job is to notice what other people don't. When an illusion in a cemetery to raise a man from the dead appears to work for a brief moment, he soon becomes his former self, a dead corpse again. Elliot knows that there is no one better to talk to about this act than those who performs illusions among the Vaudeville performers but like most, he knows that the elusive Wren Lockhart won't be easy to convince to help. It appears that she is hiding more than what the eye can see and it is that mask and the girl behind it that is worth more than what the world sees on a stage. Now if he can only convince her to help, before the body counts continue to rise.

I received The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers and Net Galley. While I was hoping for one kind of story just looking at the title this was something a bit different. I didn't think it was a murder mystery, but for it was an exceptional one along the lines of what Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might have written. It contains just the right elements of suspense and secrets that the reader has a hard time guessing who all is involved until the very end. I love how the chapters take the reader back and forth from the past to present times, so you can see how the current story is unfolding and how those secrets that Wren has kept locked away has helped keep certain things safe in her life. There is even a discussion guide included at the conclusion of this book along with an Author's Note that conveys what is fictional in the novel and what is historical fact. I easily give this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

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The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron

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