Mister Magic

If you didn’t like Hide by this author, let her redeem herself in this book! I was hanging off the edge of my seat the entire time. If you want a good read that is a true thriller book that rips into society norms then this is a book to read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC of this novel. All I can say is, “WOW.” Mister Magic first popped up on Good Reads, and then it was in my Audible recommendations. From there, it immediately went onto my TBR list. I had forgotten that I requested to read it via Net Galley, so when it came through, I was like …YES! Reading the synopsis, I didn’t know what to expect, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed. This book gave me Chanel Zero [Season 1] vibes [that show on Syfy], but better. Val [Valentina] doesn’t remember anything from her childhood, and the story begins when she’s eight years old. Val and her dad stayed on a ranch owned by his friend Gloria, only occasionally leaving to run errands to town. They didn’t watch any TV, nor did they have cell phones, but Val knew that she had to stay hidden because she had done something bad. Val’s dad dies, and so do all the secrets of Val’s childhood. He only wanted to keep her safe, but that cocoon would start to unravel as Val’s old friends would show up at the funeral. Val doesn’t remember them, but something is strangely familiar about them all. Isaac, Javi, and Marcus [and later Jenny] first met Val when they were kids on a television show, and Val can’t recall any of this. She would soon step out of her comfort zone and dive head-first into all the secrets that had been kept from her. The strangeness of this book was awesome, and the cult-like following of the Mister Magic TV show was weird. Snippets are highlighted in Wiki-style posts and message boards as people share their fondness for the show. However, what was stranger is that all evidence the show ever existed has been erased from all web sources. No one can find any episodes, and there’s nothing on social media. What were they hiding? The town of Bliss, Arizona, is where the show takes place, and everything about the town is a mystery. It seemingly popped up from nowhere, but several members of the show’s crew and most of the parents of the cast lived there. The residents of this small-town talk about Mister Magic as if it was a part of their lives, and their well-being and futures hinged this children’s show, and this cast getting back together for a "potential" reunion -- now in their 30s. While the book is categorized as horror, it falls more in the thriller wheelhouse from my perspective. There’s anticipation, then it builds until you find out the truth, and that sets the stage for something much more sinister. There is no happy ending here, only what needs to be done, as Val finds out why all the doors to her memory are closed, the town’s obsession with Mister Magic, and why her friends really came looking for her. This is a “must” read, and I really enjoyed this novel, and the anticipation was worth the wait.