As regular listeners of this podcast, you know that most episodes are chats with friends plus convention updates. I rarely post a podcast that is for self-promotion of a person or product. It is only if I think that the person or item is unique enough to warrant notice by our magic community. This podcast is one such episode.

There are countless magic books and DVDs coming out each year on tricks, technique, theory and marketing. But the number of interesting fictional novels is much less. "Club Deception" falls in that category. Many times in literature and film, the magician is represented as a villain or "sleeze bag" with few or no redeeming qualities. That is not the case with this book.

CLUB DECEPTION is Sarah Skilton's first adult fiction after publishing several young adult novels. Here is the synopsis of the book: Claire Fredericksson is the beating heart of CLUB DECEPTION, L.A.'s most exclusive magician's society. She's the Queen Bee of Magician WAGs ("Wives and Girlfriends"), and the real genius behind her philandering husband Jonathan's award-winning magic show, but her debilitating stage fright has kept her out of the limelight. Claire's life is upended by the arrival of two new women to the closed group of magicians' wives - Jessica, a young trophy wife with a secret, and Kaimi, an art expert looking for the long lost Erdnase papers by posing as a girlfriend. When a magician rivalry and a stolen routine erupt into murder, the women must uncover the truth and set things right for the man they love. With a cast of endurance experts, Vegas stage stars, close-up card handlers, and a pick-up artist or two, this glamorous novel weaves a tale of murder, fame, and many, many illusions.

"Glamorous, sexy, and full of more twists than a magic show, CLUB DECEPTION put Sarah Skilton on my insta-buy list!" - Katee Robert, New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Contract

"This book unfolds like some of the best magic I have seen. It hooks you in at the start and takes you on a journey that doesn't make you feel like you were fooled, but rather experienced something truly amazing." - Jon Armstrong, the Academy of Magic Arts' Close-Up Magician of the Year, and co-writer of Smoke & Mirrors

During our conversation, Sarah mentioned a reference to "The Magician and the Cardsharp" which I erroneously attributed to John Scarne but was actually penned by Karl Johnson. You can hear a short podcast with Karl Johnson who was the guest on NPR's "Morning Edition" during their series, "Tales From The Underworld" back in 2006 on the podcast, "A Magician's Quest for the Perfect Card Cheat" that is Dai Vernon's search for the elusive cardsharp.

Her book is available through various places including Amazon.com where, if you use the link below, also helps support The Magic Word Podcast. But if you are interested in the audible book, then Click Here to visit that site.

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