Customer Reviews

Now You See It . . .

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this story after seeing the movie Stir of Echoes. It started out really good. I couldn't put it down. Then it sort of did the same thing over and over again. It leads you in one direction only to completely surprise you, but this only works a couple of times. After a while, I was left having a good idea of what was going to happen next. The ending was very unbelievable. Still, because of good pacing, it's not a totally bad read.

First off let me state that this is definitely not one of Richard Matheson's best works. However that is like stating that Micheal Jordan had an off day by only scoring 30 + points. You can still enjoy the performance and learn a lot from it.

The novel centers around (and is narrated by) Emil Delacorte a retired stage magician who is now a paraplegic after suffering a massive stroke. In the introduction Matheson does a marvelous job of foreshadowing the coming events and sets the mood for the insanity that follows. What follows is a series of twists and turns that leave the reader shocked and stunned and wondering what is going to happen next.

What made this novel work for me was a number of things 1) Mathesons very tight, almost journalistic prose which allowed him to cram an incredible amount of events into a very few pages. Very few authors could have written such a tight, powerful tale. (The critic who complained about the simplistic style of writing obviously did not get this-stick to long winded overblown epics if that is your preference-but for this story Mathesons styling was perfect.) 2) Having the guts to have the story told in the first person by a paraplegic took guts-not every writer could pull this off. 3) A consistent weaving of twists & turns that was an exercise in prestidigitation in it's own right. Matheson will lead you one way with his plot and while you are looking that direction he twists in in a completely different direction. 4) Matheson's knowledge and explanations of magicians trade secrets and craft adds a verisimilitude to the story that makes it seem much more possible and believable. Not a lot of writers are capable of compressing so much into a 220 page novel and make it work- and only a master like Matheson can make you enjoy the ride at the same time.

This book was great, short, to the point, but great. There were soooo many twists and turns ir was insane. I loved it. A lot of people complain saying its too short or confusing or whatever, but if you like suspenceful book, youll like this one, it keeps you second guessing the whole time and with little turns in every chapter you may THINK you know the ending, but not even close.
Check it out !!!

I have read a number of the author's novels, and have enjoyed them all to one extent or another. This one is no different. It is well-written and replete with a number of intriguing twists and turns, as well as a discourse on how some magic tricks are derived.

The events that transpire within the book are narrated by an elderly man, silenced and paralyzed by a stroke, who, nonetheless has all his marbles and is a totally sentient being encased in a totally unresponsive body, leaving him unable to communicate. That man is seventy-three year old Emil Delacorte, who was once a great stage magician, until his stroke incapacitated him. Then his son, Maximilian Delacorte took up where his father left off, becoming the world's greatest stage magician.

It seems, however, that Max has been off his feed of late, and he is not as great as he used to be. Summoning associates and his wife, Cassandra, herself a capable magician, to his father's study, also known as the magic room, Max engages in a series of masterful tricks that have grisly results. It is there that a series of events transpire, some totally shocking, that keep the reader wondering just what is going on?

The pacing is kinetic, and the twists and turns are diabolic, leaving the reader breathlessly turning the pages of this tightly written, highly stylized, somewhat anachronistic little book.

Maybe the fact that the author has written so many other great reads makes this effort so disappointing. Slow, uninvolving and annoying, it was a real disappointment. But no one can hit a home run each time at bat.

This book reminds me very much of such stage classics as "Sleuth" and "Deathtrap", wherein there are several plot twists and character turns that stump the audience. That said, Matheson has created a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery, enhanced by the utilization of a stroke victim (also termed a "vegetable") as the narrator.

The plot revolves around a magician's revenge on his unfaithful wife and agent. Though at times a little labored, the narrative flows smoothly and the twists at the end are surprising.

This is not classic Matheson, but the man's genius as a writer remains evident in this compact little story.

I can't recall the last time I've read such an exasperating, cloying book. As a fan of plot twists, I thought this looked promising--but the thrill quickly wore thin, until the seemingly endless turns grew tiresome and obnoxious. What's worse, I could practically hear in my head Richard Matheson saying "Hey, look at me, I put in ANOTHER twist! Isn't that just TOO clever of me? " I got the feeling of someone writing stream-of-consciousness, who every now and then just though it would be neat to say "No, what I said before, turns out it wasn't true!" and wound the writing around to make it seem right. And "seem" I say deliberately. By the end, once I knew The Full Story, I found the oh-so-perfectness of the plot, and the idea that the characters had at various times actually been fooled, really hard to believe. (That explanation probably doesn't make much sense to someone who hasn't read the book yet, but I am keeping my words deliberately vague so I don't spoil it!)

Also...to get away from the issue of twists for a second...I found all the characters in this book terribly unsympathetic (except the narrator, who is only an observer rather than a participant in the action). It was difficult to care too much about what happened to them--instead the focus was, perhaps deliberately, on HOW things happened, which was to me decidedly unsatisfying.

All in all, I found this book tedious and irritating. If you are interested in terrific plot twists, be sure to read Ira Levin's _A Kiss Before Dying_. Or maybe go back and watch "Time Enough at Last" on a Twilight Zone marathon. But undertake _Now You See It_ cautiously.

R. Matheson captures pure irony, subtle comedy, and horror in this one. It is a page-turning suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very surprising and unexpected end. Matheson is truly one of the masters of horror right under Stephen King and Robert McCAMMON!!!!

This is not one of Matheson's best efforts, but it is definitely better than most novels out there and has a really good twist that sucker punches you when you least expect it. Overall a well written effort and a great imagination which characterizes most of his works.

This story was so convoluted and ridiculous i felt like I was the one who'd had a trick played on him. I love Matheson, and i think his body of work is incredible. But this felt like it was written by a 6TH grader. You ever listen to a child tell a story..."and then he did this, and then he did this, and then everyone suddenly had invisible forcefields"...I seriously doubt there was any type of outline for this. It just jumps from one random moment to the next. The characters are annoying, and the twists were ridiculously improbable. Save yout time and money and read Hell House or I am Legend or somethign that proves how good Matheson is. Because this ain't it.