Title: The Magician
Author: E.J. Stauffer
Publisher: Authors’ Tranquility Press
ISBN: 978-1969726552
Pages: 188
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Reviewer: Liz Konkel
Hollywood Book Reviews
Ben Knight doesn’t have a 9-to-5 job. He’s a paid assassin for the government, and he is proficient in his role. But sometimes, things still go wrong. When one of those times nearly cost him his life, he decided the time had come for his life to go in a new direction. He attempts to reinvent himself by becoming someone ‘normal,’ but he soon finds himself bored and wondering what his purpose is. When he meets Ellen and her daughter, Marianne, he finds himself in the middle of helping them get away from her abusive ex. The connection between them is undeniable, but the perfect life is short-lived when Ellen dies, and he receives custody of her daughter. Just as he gets everything together, his past comes back to haunt him and threatens to destroy everything he’s built. To keep Marianne safe, his only choice is to lean back into the shoes of the killer he was.
The story is balanced by the two sides of Ben’s life, the assassin and the normal guy, which frames the arc of his journey. When you first meet him, it’s through an introduction of his role as a killer, as the story opens with him on assignment. This gives you a quick sense of the gritty lifestyle that he leads, always on alert, looking for a mark. By beginning the story this way, the tone starts with a bit of an edge, and you see Ben more emotionless than where he ends up. Seeing him in this setting shows you that his personality is encompassed by this purpose and is how he defines himself. Author E.J. Stauffer sets up this character by putting you directly into the violence of his life, and then carefully shifts Ben into a quiet lifestyle. His normal existence creates a sharp juxtaposition to where you first see him, but the boring parts of it give him room to find a purpose as something more.
While the beginning sets these two lives up with sharp differences, the story steadily bleeds one into the other. The peace he found begins to be threatened with the loss of Ellen, and then when someone from his past returns. These incidents push him from the doting guardian of a young child, and back into the violence he thought was behind him. This leads to an intriguing tug-of-war between these two sides of himself, which adds plenty of drama to the story. Stauffer carefully incorporates action-packed moments into Ben’s peaceful life through a mysterious figure called The Man and his perspective as an assassin. These moments make the plot feel fast-paced, and only slow down when Ben is enjoying moments of a normal life, allowing you to rest when he rests and enjoy a nice breather between violent fights and killing people.
The supporting characters represent different parts of who he is and who he wants to be. The different personalities he interacts with reflect what person he is, the peaceful man or the killer. Representing the latter is ‘The Man’ who embodies what he’s trying to leave behind, while Marianne represents his chance for a future. The child gives him a new identity, while her mother, Ellen, serves as a catalyst who shakes up his ‘boring’ life, showing that even peace can be disrupted and that sometimes you have to fight for normalcy. Meanwhile, an adorable standout character is Max: the lovable and loyal dog who adds sweet depth to Ben’s journey through his relationship with the child and holds an innocent place in the story. An action-filled journey about identity and new beginnings, The Magician is a fast-paced story that will keep you turning the page to see what happens next. Readers who enjoy suspenseful fiction with a touch of mystery will find much to admire in this captivating story.