Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace

This novel left me deflated.  The build up was fantastic, (the first 80 per cent of the book is brilliant), but when the end came I shrugged my shoulders and said, "that's it?"  It was as if author Daniel Wallace run out of steam and was not able to provide the appropriate punchline to this otherwise excellent story.

The novel tells the tale of Henry Walker, a magician who used to be famous around the world, but who is now reduced to joining the B-list Musgrove's Chinese Circus as a bumbling Negro Magician. One night in Mississippi in 1954 he disappears after three white teenagers carry him off.  He is never seen again.

The narrative style is intriguing, as the narration switches from character to character.  This technique, which I enjoyed very much, gave the impression that we were discovering a truth that was not known to any single person, but which collectively could be deduced.

Unfortunately, I found that the story run out of steam at the end.  What had been an excellent book for the most part, became a tale that appeared to scramble as it searched for an ending.  This is too bad, because this could have been a wonderful novel.

3 out of 5 stars