The Magician's Lie: A Novel Paperback – Picture Book, October 6, 2015

The Magician's Lie is a unique historical novel, one that ties a woman's determination to be free, independent, and strong with some dark undertones. In Macallister's debut novel, Arden (born Ada) is the country's most famous female illusionist who is arrested for her husband's murder. She has one night to convince Virgil Holt, a small-town police officer, of her innocence.Arden spends the evening telling her story, starting with her childhood. Her mother, a musician born into a wealthy family, has Arden out of wedlock and then elopes with another man, landing them on a remote, struggling farm. Although Arden finds joy in learning ballet, she is systematically stalked and terrified by Ray, her stepfather's psychopathic nephew. Ray is obsessed with the idea that he can injure people and then heal them. While he begins with torturing animals and cutting himself, it is clear his real goal is Arden. Ray goes out of his way to stop Arden from achieving her goals of entering the world of professional ballet and leaving the farm, including breaking her leg so she cannot dance.While Arden tells Holt she is not an escape artist, she spends most of her life escaping. After her mother refuses to believe her account of Ray;s abuse, Arden escapes to the Biltmore. There, she finds a job as one of the mansions numerous servants. She falls in love with a handsome young gardener named Clyde, who has ambitions to escape the Biltmore and become a landscape artist in New York. At first Arden trusts Clyde completely, but then she realizes she trusted him too much, so she flees from him.Throughout the novel, she is running from Ray, sometimes physically and always emotionally. As a professional illusionist, first under the tutelage of another female illusionist and then with her own show, she is always on the road...always escaping from one town to the next. As she tells her story, though, she is also trying to escape from Holt, whether on her own by convincing him of her innocence, or with assistance from another unknown source.The entire time I was reading The Magician's Lie, I kept waiting to find out what the lie was. That word is part of the title, so it had to be important. What was it that Arden was lying about? That question lingers in the back of the reader's mind throughout the entire novel.Once I was able to actually focus on what I was reading, I was completely caught up in Arden's journey. The story arc was well-structured and I really liked how everything came together in the end. On occasion, it felt like the story dragged a bit because there were just so many details, but that being said, I think the attention to detail is what created such a rich and vivid story. I give the novel an 8.5 out of 10 and I cannot wait for Macallister to write a second novel.

Ada Bates escaped her torturous life at 14-years-old. Leaving her mother’s care in the middle of the night, she sets sail on a journey both ambitious and tragic. Rising from the lowliness of a servant at the famous Biltmore Estate in North Carolina to the stardom of the first female illusionist, selling out grand theaters around the nation. She maintains a life by creating magic for audiences while keeping up the illusion that she isn’t haunted by an evil past – one that could rear its head at any moment. Along the way she finds Clyde Garber, her manager and eventual love of her life.The Amazing Arden, Ada Bates’s stage name, is known for her feat of sawing a man in half and then restoring him whole. However, the illusion goes awry when her husband turns up dead from the same wounds as her mesmerizing illusion. Trying to escape, she heads out in the dead of night and is accidentally captured by a local police officer. Now as she is hand-cuffed to a chair, she must recount her story — one that spans over 10 years — to prove her innocence. That tale is one wild ride to the truth – or is it a lie?Since I’m a voracious reader, I don’t very often come across a book that I adore – and adore The Magician’s Lie I do! As soon as I turned the last page, I couldn’t wait to share this spellbinding story with my friends.As a historical novel the book dives into a time when society was dominated by males, and yet the story centers around a female illusionist who captivates audiences, both men and women, with her talent. Her occupation alone keeps the reader riveted to Arden’s ever-deepening character. The story is told in a series of flashbacks that return to present day every few chapters. It’s interesting to note that much of the plot’s tension take place in the chapters where she recounts her story to a local law officer who is fighting his own internal struggles. A police station’s phone rings in the dead of night and both sit through the piercing rings while the reader wonders who is on the other end.The plot was equal parts mysterious, creepy, romantic, and action-packed. The combination provides a riveting page-turning experience. This was one of those books where when I wasn’t reading it, I was wishing that I was. I couldn’t wait to get to the end, and then I was bummed when it was over. The point of view switches from Ada’s story to a movie camera’s view of the events occurring in the police station. Just when you think Ada is guilty, she shares a story that makes you believe in her innocence. All along though, she tells her side of things with a detached air that causes the reader to question its truth – maybe she was capable of killing her husband.Readers will cheer for Ada from the moment she first loses the chance to escape her poverty stricken life and the clutches of Ray (winner of creepy character award). She is a survivor, and we love that she is a self-made women who works hard and dedicates herself to her craft. She is talented, beautiful, yet slightly dysfunctional. We want her to love and be loved and when her happiness begins to crash around her, we must flip the page to see if she can hold on to it.The Magician’s Lie is Greer Macallister‘s debut novel. I guarantee readers will anxiously await the next book published by Macallister as the first one provides a unique thrill ride with characters to both love and hate. That’s a story to adore! check out other book reviews on my blog: unpackinglife.com

Very good. Plot twists kept me engaged. Very interesting plotEnding a little predictable but overall a good read. I think k it seemed l ok by because pace was a little slow mid-story

Three things that often influence my selection of a book to read are - the first (or first two) sentences, the book cover and the title.First sentence of this book -Tonight, I will do the impossible.That definitely got my interest.Book Cover - good one.Title - also interesting. I have to admit that after reading the book, I’m not sure what lie the author is referring to. I wish that had been more clear.I enjoyed the book. It’s classified as historical fiction. A few of the characters in the book actually existed and the author did a great job of weaving them into the story. It appears that the author did excellent research into the time period and also into the history of magic shows and the theaters that they played in.Some reviewers compare it to Water for Elephants. I agreed that it had some of that feel to it. It’s the story of one small-town girl’s flight from danger to an exciting life as The Amazing Arden sawing men in half.

Great book. I very much enjoyed following the Amazing Arden's journey. The quality of the writing is excellent.