The Warlock Effect: A highly entertaining, twisty adventure filled with magic, illusions and Cold War espionage

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Mr Aldous, editor of Illustrated, who has previous history with Louis, challenges him to prove his magic is ‘real’. His assistant (and fiancée) Dinah is hidden within a three-mile radius, and Louis must find her within three hours, blindfolded, only using his ‘psychic’ mental connection to her. They secretly communicate messages to each other by tapping their fingers in Morse code. He passes the test. An interesting and pleasurable thriller-type read, but not one with the flash and exuberance I might have expected. To many that will be to its credit. I came to this knowing nothing, beyond the reputation of the authorial pair behind it. So I'll hide the next para to keep the plot secret, for those who want the same. Intriguing and completely original, this Cold War spy novel is just what every bookshelf needs' W.C. RYAN The magical explication throughout is well done and thoughtful but I would've liked a few extra twists in the plot itself, as it felt a little linear.

Man about town, denizen of Soho’s nightclubs and cabaret bars – and the most skilled magician of his time . . .I particularly liked how Louis’ ‘Brains Trust’ worked together to solve mysteries, although Louis was the only character we got to know really well as we followed him on his journey.

Jeremy Dyson is co-creator of the West End hit play and film Ghost Stories, and a founding member of the team behind award-winning BBC series The League of Gentlemen. He has written for and script edited many series, including Killing Eve. He is the writer of a novel and three collections of short stories, one the Edge Hill award winner The Crane that Builds the Cranes. Vertue said: “This book is a rollercoaster. A gorgeous period setting in the ‘50s with a very different kind of hero – plus magic and espionage and cliffhanger after cliffhanger. We couldn’t put it down – and when we make it, audiences won’t be able to switch it off.” At some point, Louis becomes a willing participant in the secret agenting that he is being forced into. Given what they had put him through, I found that a bit incredible. If it were me, I would have found some way to phone the fiancée. Everything about this book is incredible, the opening contract, the little magical asides, the story, the twists and turns.But after his talent for deception attracts the attention of the British secret service, Louis is thrown into the perilous world of espionage and finds himself sent across Europe with a dangerous mission to fulfil. Man about town, denizen of Soho’s nightclubs and cabaret bars and the most skilled magician of his time… I think the seed was first planted about 20 years ago when a book came out by a magician we both really respect and it lit the fuse of this idea of the transferable skills between magic and spying,” said Dyson.

Sheer delight... This enthralling, playful thriller can be enjoyed for its virtuosic recreation of the period' THE SUNDAY TIMES The debut novel, about a magician who flees Nazi Germany and is lured into espionage, was written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, creators of the Ghost Stories theatre production. Even the twin godfathers of spies – James Bond and George Smiley – have given more than a nod to the marriage of espionage and magic. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, published in 1974, John le Carré has Smiley investigating the tangled web weaved by “Source Merlin” and the intelligence he produces, collectively known as “Witchcraft”, while an elite group of spies is referred to as the Magic Circle. Digital Reads A Curse For True Love : the thrilling final book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series Coupled with the events of the novel, it ends up being quite harrowing and traumatic for the protagonist and the reader.Spycraft and magic have always been strange but agreeable bedfellows, and a recent trend for merging both branches of the dark arts is gathering momentum in fiction.