Two magicians, Mandy and Dane Collins, have had a good run. With a fatal car accident, Dane will never see his wife again.
That is until he runs into a girl, trying her hand at magic on the streets, who looks eerily like Mandy when she was younger.
This book is rough going. Everything about it is slow - until the final climactic conflict. Your imagination will have to work overtime as you try to comprehend Peretti's time-travel explanation and the endless descriptions of each magic trick young Mandy performs in a coffee shop then in Las Vegas.
How many times do we have to read about repeated tricks? It got old.
The explanation of what's going on comes as a breath of fresh air. It occurs just before most readers would give up on the story.
You won't find an overt "Christian" message in this story until the afterward explaining what the story meant to Peretti. This is fine with me. I don't need to read, "Jesus loves me this I know" from every Christian author.
(Ted Dekker taught me that)
Peretti will have his fans for this book. It's good to see him back at the writer's desk. I just hope the editor(s) will have more sway over the layout and excess of the story next time.
This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Howard Books.
1 comment:
This is far from a simple novel. It's multifaceted, with numerous storylines and some complex technical information to process. Peretti does a very nice job of simplifying many aspects of this book so that it's understandable to the average reader. However, he doesn't skimp on answering questions and filling in gaps in his theory. Instead, he creates a scenario that's easy to understand and plausible sounding to the reader. As with most books where the line between progress and morality becomes blurred, I enjoyed contemplating what these characters achieved and whether the cost outweighed the benefits. At one point, Dr. Ian Malcolm's line from Juarasic Park came to mind--"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn't stop to think if they should."
Illusion is rich with symbolism and subtle spiritual themes. But one aspect that cannot go unmentioned is the stunning love between Dane and Mandy. I adore stories that portray, deep, devoted love; a love that endures past death. That to me is true romance and I find it a joy to read about.
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