"Eerie as a midnight walk in the fog," said The New York Times Book Review of David Hunt's The Magician's Tale, "showing us light and dark, truth and deception, reality and illusion, even good and evil, in ways we never imagined." "Hunt mesmerizes with his sleight of hand," praised People magazine, "The book's lingering spell lies in the way its heroine's perspective enables us to see, as if for the first time, her beloved city in all its chiaroscuro splendor." When distinguished photojournalist Maddy Yamada is struck by a motorcyclist at two in the morning in a seedy area far from her Marina apartment, Kay Farrow's grief is tempered by suspicion. What could have drawn the reclusive Maddy so far from home at such an hour? Kay believes Maddy's work in progress--blurry, abstract images uncharacteristic of a woman famous for her unsparing clarity of vision--holds elusive clues, clues Kay is determined to decipher. Tracing old photographs and undeveloped film discovered in one of Maddy's cameras, Kay begins to bring into focus Maddy's activities at the time of her death. The territory Kay must cover runs the back alleys of the Mission to the elite enclaves of Pacific Heights and beyond, to a very private shooting preserve miles north of the city. Lurking in her path is a netherworld of decadence and evil--and evidence that Maddy's death was no accident. Kay doggedly pursues a winding path to justice, negotiating a labyrinth of debauchery and dark desires, topping anything she encountered in the course of The Magician's Tale.
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Book Description
Kay Farrow, a color-blind photographer who sees the world in black, white and shades of gray, probes the mysterious death of her beloved mentor on a quest that takes her to the darkest intersections of San Francisco's Mission District.
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
David Hunt's first thriller about Kay Farrow, a San Francisco photographer with a severe form of color-blindness--The Magician's Tale--was so good that it would have seemed unrealistic to expect him to equal it. But Trick of Light comes close enough to earn high praise and a gasp of admiration. There are more luminous views of San Francisco seen in Kay's own heightened black and white, this time largely waterfront shots of illegal Chinese immigrants scrambling ashore or huddling in shabby apartments. There's the same aura of erotic fascination, in this case with the engravings on rare guns. And there's the instantly engaging character of Kay herself, who never exhibits self-pity for the affliction that keeps her indoors by day.
It's Sasha, Kay's Indian doctor-lover, who tells her about physicist David Bohm and his theory of implicate order, "a hidden order enfolded in the visible surface that we know." Kay uses the theory to investigate the murder of her beloved mentor, photographer Maddy Yamada, who left behind a series of obscure pictures totally unlike her trademark journalism. Sasha also tells Kay about synesthesia (the crossover of senses, which allows her to hear music as color): it becomes another valuable clue to Maddy's secret past.
All of this helps make up for a few less-than-fatal faults: too much reliance on Kay's ex-cop father and his handy connections to people with all sorts of dangerous talents, too many moments of leering sexual depravation, a predictable sameness among the bad guys in both books. In the end, Kay and her creator, Hunt, leave us with a strong story and a series of powerful black-and-white images deeply imprinted on our memory. --Dick Adler
From Publishers Weekly
Too close to parody for comfort, Hunt's second novel is a sorely strained procedural set in San Francisco. After the hit-and-run death of mentor Maddy Yamada, San Francisco news photographer Kay Farrow tries to unravel what she considers suspicious circumstances. Her first clue is a house with a green door, but Farrow has achromatopsia (color blindness that renders what she sees shades of gray). This might have been ironic, but all irony is spent in the title. Clues in a roll of Yamada's undeveloped black-and-white film lead to a group of collectors of guns (inscribed with "erotic" drawings) who are involved in sexual violence and murder. Throughout, the brief, staccato scenes are jargon-filled essays on photography, aikido and beekeeping, among other subjects, none of which lends much texture to the two-dimensional characters. The rich culture of San Francisco is missing; the language is clich?d ("Sirens scream! Brakes squeal!"); the secondary cast is littered with stereotypes. By the long overdue ending, readers are not likely to care what happened to Yamada. After the success of the pseudonymous Hunt's debut, The Magician's Tale, this is a letdown indeed. Rights sold in the U.K., France, Germany, Holland and Norway.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dark, but interesting.,
By Old Fisherman "Jim" (Orange, California USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Trick of Light (Paperback)
David Hunt, pen name of "Janek" novels creator William Bayer, has given us another dark tale of San Francisco photographer Kay Farrow. Farrow is grief-stricken by the hit-and-run death of her friend and mentor, Maddy Yamada. But she also wants to know what her mostly-homebound friend was doing in one of San Francisco's seedier neighborhoods in the middle of the night. Thus begins her quest which leads to a tony Mendocino gun club and also leads her forty years into her mentor's past. As with all of William Bayer's novels, the writing is tight and the characterization is rich. Kay is a strong but caring woman. She has the ability to be violent and the means (she is an-almost black-belt in Akido and during the novel she learns combat-shooting) but to Bayer's credit he never uses this to advance the story. I liked the book and would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a thoughtful, well-written thriller. It is way above the usual cliche-ridden mystery stories that seem to abound today. And, miracle of miracles, it doesn't even have a serial killer.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Even better than "The Magician's Tale"!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Trick of Light (Hardcover)
I loved "The Magician's Tale." I read it this summer in paperback and couldn't put it down. So I was thrilled when I learned that David Hunt had written a second novel featuring colorblind photographer, Kay Farrow. In fact, "Trick Of Light" is if anything better than the first book...and that's saying something! This time Kay tracks the death of her mentor, world-famous photojournalist Maddy Yamada, who appeared briefly in the earlier novel. Here, after Kay unravels Maddy's past, her life is explicated in all its magnificent strangeness and mystery. And here again Hunt captures the essence of my hometown, San Francisco, like no other novelist before. In both books you can literally feel the fog, smell the streets, delight in the shimmering Pacific Coast light. And as before Kay Farrow's noir vision of the city (for she is totally colorblind) distills it down to a special essence. A terrific tale beautifully told by a highly gifted writer. Suspense, mystery, memorable characters, a stunning tour de force. I can't recommend this book enough!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BRILLIANT,
By A Customer
This review is from: Trick of Light (Paperback)
I think this is a briliant book, beautifully written, with a strong female protagonist who rings absolutely true to life. It is so superior to the standard run of mysteries that it's not funny! The story is compelling, the way it's developed is fascinating and the outcome is deliciously gratifying to the reader. Hunt has written in the voice of this character before in his terrific earlier book THE MAGICIAN'S TALE. Though the earlier book was permeated with a darker sexuality, this new Kay Farrow novel is perhaps more enticing. I found it almost Hitchcockian (if there is such a word!)and the San Francisco setting also reminded me of Hitchcock at his best (i.e. "VERTIGO"). A great read!
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