July 28, 2006

Blood Sugar Sex Magic

“The Bullet Trick,” by Louise Welsh

Con man, sleight-of-hand expert, master illusionist.

No, we’re not talking about the Hill.

We’re talking about William Wilson, a down-on-his-luck Scottish magician and the antihero of The Bullet Trick, the highly anticipated third novel by neo-noir author Louise Welsh.

A literary thriller set in contemporary Europe’s underworld, the lush and lurid tale follows Wilson from a career in seedy London nightspots to an erotic cabaret in Berlin.

Things start to look up when he meets Sylvie, an alluring American who becomes his assistant and heats up his tired act. But when a bloody crime occurs at a club where he performed — a favor for a friend results in unforeseen consequences and a grift goes awry — Wilson flees home to Glasgow, hoping to elude his past.

It’s an impossible task for even the best escape artist — and when things catch up to W., he needs all the tricks in his repertoire just to stay alive.

Hmm. Maybe we’re talking politics after all.

Available online at amazon.com.