Magicians Impossible

A 30-year-old man discovers that his estranged father was actually a “Mage in the service of the Invisible Hand” in Abraham’s uneven first novel, a fantasy thriller. Bartender Jason Bishop returns home to Cold Spring, N.Y., to bury his father, Daniel, who apparently leapt to his death from the roof of the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan. At the funeral, a reunion with a lost love adds to Jason’s regrets about his relationship with his father, and things take an odd turn when he’s confronted in the funeral home’s restroom by a stranger who vanishes, leaving behind only a playing card. The stranger, Carter Block, reappears at Jason’s upper Manhattan workplace and reveals Daniel’s real name and identity—and that he was murdered. Carter also discloses the reason for the murder: Daniel (who was really Damon King) “was attempting to acquire something of great value... that could shift the balance in an age-old conflict” between supernatural beings. Abraham writes with a certain wistful charm, but genre fans may feel that they’ve seen all this before—and better. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Sept.)