When I was asked to review a PDF copy of Frank Perretti’s latest release, Illusion, how could I say no?  It was Perretti after all.  It was essentially accepted sight (and plot) unseen and unknown.  In all honesty, I was a bit surprised.

When stage magician Dane loses his wife Mandy and magic partner of forty years, he is understandably devastated.  What is less understandable however, is when he meets a young woman who so deeply resembles his wife when he first met her that its frightening.

Dane soon finds himself plunged into a mystifying world of cutting-edge, secretive science research (read: science fiction) as he tries to unweave the tangles surrounding the arrival of this young woman in his life.  I can’t really say more than that without doing some major plot reveals, but let’s just say it’s pretty out there.

Long-time readers of Perretti might be surprised by the main-stream writing style that is present throughout the book – there isn’t a lot of faith thrown into the mix, as with his previous works.

In all honesty, I’m not sure I would have accepted a review copy if I’d known so much of the book would revolve around stage magic, tricks, theatrics, and the like.  At times it even seemed a bit occultish (but don’t worry, there is a sci-fi explanation for the events, even if it is complicated and hard to follow even for an experienced sci-fi reader).

The writing is still engaging, mysterious, with a good dose of, “What’s going on here?”  It’s a clean read, but not one with a significant spiritual message.

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