The Bullet Trick

William Wilson's stage magic career has tanked, girls sneer at him and he hits the bottle too often for someone whose livelihood depends on steady hands. Out of desperation, he makes two ruinous mistakes: he picks a policeman's pocket and then picks up Sylvie, an American burlesque dancer in Berlin with dangerously intimate connections to the criminal underworld. The seriousness of these errors becomes slowly, agonizingly clear through a series of suspense-building flashbacks—set in contemporary Berlin, London and Glasgow—that show just how low a mostly decent man can sink, especially when a pretty woman is dragging him down and the glimmer of redemption always dances just ahead. In this successor to her debut (The Cutting Room ), Welsh nails the dialogue perfectly, capturing the self-deprecating hope of washed-up men and women hunting for that one big break and the pity and scorn heaped upon them by those who are better off. It's best to read this lurid tale in private, and wash your hands afterward. (Aug.)