Helene Woodhams and Christine Wald-Hopkins
MAJIK, by Joe Coon. (Independently published) 428 pgs. $16.99, $4.99 Kindle.
“Christopher,” says the protagonist’s doting mother, “was a miracle.” From the time Christopher was a small boy, he was touched by an indefinable kind of magic that set him on a trajectory to stardom as an accomplished magician.
The novel opens in the small Nevada town of Tonopah in the 1940s with the tragic death of Christopher’s parents. Self-sufficient from a tender age, he put his special talent to use and began performing in a Las Vegas casino at 17 — launching a legendary career.
With the atmospheric backdrop of mid-century Vegas in all its Rat Pack glory, the author describes Christopher Majik’s rise to fame, replete with eye-popping feats of prestidigitation that captivated audiences with a power that transcended mere illusion. But Vegas stardom meant less to him than his happy home life, the ephemeral thing that existed beyond his conjuring abilities.
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Author Joe Coon, who believes that a good magician never shares his secrets, has written two previous books, “The Perfect Game,” and “Something Wicked.”
— Helene Woodhams
The Story That Wouldn’t Die: A Jolene Garcia Mystery, by Christina Estes. (Minotaur Books) 320 pgs. $28, $14.99 Kindle.
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Phoenix TV reporter Jolene Garcia has a nose for news and an Emmy Award to prove it. She also has an unerring ability to sniff out greed and corruption: when a local contractor questions irregularities in City Hall’s bidding process before turning up dead of “natural causes,” it’s a story that doesn’t pass Jolene’s smell test.
So, she’s on it, doing graceful end runs around her station manager’s preference for feel-good clickbait over serious news. Jolene’s perseverance is her super power, but as her dogged pursuit of the truth uncovers dangerous layers of deception in high places, it becomes apparent there’s someone who thinks one less nosy reporter in Phoenix wouldn’t be missed.
This is the second outing for author Christina Estes’s quick-witted amateur sleuth, and its lively authenticity, brisk dialogue and clever plotting do not disappoint. Estes knows what she’s talking about, newsroom-wise, having spent 20 years as an award-winning broadcast journalist in Phoenix covering crime, public policy and business. Tidbits from a reporter’s bag of tricks for getting juicy interviews are an added bonus. In all, it’s can’t-put-it-down readable.
— Helene Woodhams
Helene Woodhams is retired from Pima County Public Library, where she was the Literary Arts Librarian.
A former English instructor, Christine Wald-Hopkins is an occasional essayist and national and local book critic.
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