Synopsis
Crime Writers Association award winner Louise Welsh follows up her hit artworld noir The Cutting Room with a slick literary suspense thriller set among the decadent domains of contemporary Berlin, Glasgow, and London. Meet William Wilson, a foundering so-called mentalist, conjurer, and above all — despite frequently being the opening act for strippers — a master performer. When his agent books him for a string of cabaret gigs in Berlin, he’s hoping his luck’s on the turn. Among the showgirls and grifters of Berlin’s scandalous underground, Wilson can forget his lonely heart, his muddled head, and, more important, his past. But secrets have a habit of catching up with William and as he gets in over his head with a certain brand of lucrative after-hours work, the line between what’s an act and what’s real starts to blur. Bringing the seedy glamour of the burlesque scene magnificently to life, Louise Welsh’s deft contemporary tale is her richest and most macabre yet. A thundering thriller of Glasgow drinking dens, Soho clubs, and dark Berlin backstreets, The Bullet Trick is also an adults-only suspense, guaranteed to keep you guessing until its final explosive flourish.
The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio
Like her mesmerizing first novel, The Cutting Room, Louise Welsh s Gothic noir thriller, The Bullet Trick, delivers both the erotic tingle and the frisson of revulsion some of us feel when exploring a decadent subculture. Chalk that up to a few things that make Welsh one of the most exciting new writers in the game: a gorgeous style that can even capture the surreal beauty of a sleazy club on the bad side of town; a protagonist who maintains a certain innocence as he pursues the more unsavory aspects of his trade; and genuine sympathy for the lost souls who have stumbled into an underworld of vice and can t find their way home.