The Bullet Trick - Softcover

Welsh, Louise

3.47

800 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841958654 ISBN 13: 9781841958651

Publisher: Canongate, 2006

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Crime Writers Association award winner Louise Welsh follows up her hit artworld noir The Cutting Room with a slick literary suspense thriller set among the decadent domains of contemporary Berlin, Glasgow, and London. Meet William Wilson, a foundering so-called mentalist, conjurer, and above all — despite frequently being the opening act for strippers — a master performer. When his agent books him for a string of cabaret gigs in Berlin, he's hoping his luck's on the turn. Among the showgirls and grifters of Berlin's scandalous underground, Wilson can forget his lonely heart, his muddled head, and, more important, his past. But secrets have a habit of catching up with William and as he gets in over his head with a certain brand of lucrative after-hours work, the line between what's an act and what's real starts to blur.

Bringing the seedy glamour of the burlesque scene magnificently to life, Louise Welsh's deft contemporary tale is her richest and most macabre yet. A thundering thriller of Glasgow drinking dens, Soho clubs, and dark Berlin backstreets, The Bullet Trick is also an adults-only suspense, guaranteed to keep you guessing until its final explosive flourish.

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About the Author:

Louise Welsh is the bestselling author of The Cutting Room and Tamburlaine Must Die. She was chosen as one of Britain's Best First Novelists of 2002 by the Guardian, won The Crime Writers' Association Creasey Dagger for the best first crime novel, and the Saltire First Book of The Year Award, 2002.

From Publishers Weekly:

William Wilson's stage magic career has tanked, girls sneer at him and he hits the bottle too often for someone whose livelihood depends on steady hands. Out of desperation, he makes two ruinous mistakes: he picks a policeman's pocket and then picks up Sylvie, an American burlesque dancer in Berlin with dangerously intimate connections to the criminal underworld. The seriousness of these errors becomes slowly, agonizingly clear through a series of suspense-building flashbacks—set in contemporary Berlin, London and Glasgow—that show just how low a mostly decent man can sink, especially when a pretty woman is dragging him down and the glimmer of redemption always dances just ahead. In this successor to her debut (The Cutting Room), Welsh nails the dialogue perfectly, capturing the self-deprecating hope of washed-up men and women hunting for that one big break and the pity and scorn heaped upon them by those who are better off. It's best to read this lurid tale in private, and wash your hands afterward. (Aug.)
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