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The Shoemaker's Magician

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A fabled lost movie. An increasing body count. How much do you risk for art?


Paloma has been watching the Grand Vespertilio Show her entire life. Grand, America's most beloved horror host showcases classic, low-budget and cult horror movies with a flourish, wearing his black tuxedo and hat, but Paloma has noticed something strange about Grand, stranger than his dark make-up and Gothic television set.


After Paloma's husband, a homicide detective, discovers an obscure movie poster pinned on a mutilated corpse on stage at the Chicago Theater, she knows that the only person that can help solve this mystery is Grand. When another body appears at an abandoned historic movie palace the deaths prove to be connected to a silent film, lost to the ages, but somehow at the center of countless tragedies in Chicago.


The closer Paloma gets to Grand she discovers that his reach is far greater than her first love, horror movies, and even this film. And she soon becomes trapped between protecting a silent movie that's contributed to so much death in her city and the life of her young son.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 30, 2023
      The haunting if overbearing second paranormal mystery in Pelayo’s Chicago Saga series (after Children of Chicago) pays homage to a slew of classic horror films. As a child, Polly used horror movies to escape the real horror of life with an abusive mother—and they gave her and her brother an idea. Desperate to escape their home life, the pair attempted magick to summon demons and ask for what they desired most. Their parents died shortly after, making Polly believe that their magick really worked. Now Polly has a successful career as a YouTuber discussing all things horror and a happy domestic life with Chicago homicide detective Bass and their young son, Bela. Bela’s origins, however, have a dark backstory: after six miscarriages, a desperate Polly invoked all 72 demons to grant her wish of having a child. When Bass starts investigating a series of murders involving demon sigils and horror movies, Polly fears the ritual she did to get Bela may be responsible. Pelayo loads the text with references to cult films and asides about their production histories that will delight horror buffs but may overwhelm more casual fans. The details about Chicago are similarly exhaustive. This is not for the faint of heart. Agent: Lane Heymont, Tobias Agency.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from January 1, 2023

      Bass, a homicide detective in Chicago, is called to a brutal murder on the stage of the Chicago Theater, where the body was laid out with a poster for a famous occult film. Bass's wife, Polly, a horror-movie expert, is writing her dissertation on Chicago's most elusive and famous horror host, Grand. Polly, the daughter of immigrants and a survivor of child abuse, has always found comfort in horror movies and magick, and she has passed her love on to her son Bela. But someone else is sharing dark stories with Bela, ominous fables that seem to connect the murder to his family, the history of horror films, and Chicago's deteriorating movie palaces. Crafting a tale that fascinates and frightens, International Latino Book Award--winning and Bram Stoker Award--nominated poet/novelist Pelayo (Children of Chicago; Into the Forest and All the Way Through) writes an enchanting mix of Chicago history, folklore, and haunting atmosphere, anchored by a strong female protagonist. VERDICT A gripping story filled with ghosts, mystery, and history, this novel has many excellent entry points for a wide range of readers, but especially for those who enjoy creepy retellings of western folklore, as written by authors like Helen Oyeyemi, and books about occult movies, such as Experimental Film by Gemma Files.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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