Synopses & Reviews
A stunning new thriller from the father of Christian fiction—a grieving husband encounters a teen identical to his dead wife…in face, name, and magical skills.Dane and Mandy Collins have been a popular magic act for close to 30 years. In their late fifties, they plan to retire but their plans are devastated by a fiery car wreck. Dane awakens in a hospital and learns that Mandy is dead. As he reflects on their life together and how they first met at a magic show, we see nineteen-year-old Mandy in a flashback:
Mandy and two friends are visiting a county fair in Idaho when they happen upon a theater where a magician will be doing a show in an hour. While waiting to see the show, young Mandy appears to falls asleep, then awakes abruptly. She fell asleep in 1970; it is now 2010. Distraught, she is picked up by security personnel. She winds up in a mental hospital, where no one is sure who she is or where she came from.?
Mandy escapes from the hospital. Alone, penniless, and mystified by her circumstances, she takes shelter with a charitable family and begins eking out a dime by performing magic for anyone who will stop, watch, and leave a tip. She winds up doing a weekly magic act at a local coffeehouse.
A friend tells Dane there’s an act he ought to see. Dane has retired but agrees to watch the girl perform. He is transfixed by the magic he sees, illusions that even he, a seasoned professional, cannot readily explain. But more than anything, he is emotionally devastated by this nineteen-year-old who is in every respect identical to the young beauty he first met some forty years earlier.
When Mandy and Dane reunite, they must decide what their future is…and uncover the conspiracy behind their meeting; the strange, supernatural bent to Mandy's magic; and who is following them.?
Again, Frank Peretti has crafted a riveting novel full of twists and mystery. This rich, rewarding book depicts a love story that transcends time, space, and what's meant by “death” and “life.” Exceptionally well written, Illusion will soon prove another classic in Frank's impressive list.
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"Frank Peretti may just be the master storyteller of our time—using modern metaphors and fresh images, this remarkable writer helps us visualize the unseen world in ways we never quite pictured before." —Joni Eareckson Tada
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“Frank Peretti is a master storyteller. His novels stay with you a lifetime, drawing you closer to God and the truth in His word.” —Karen Kingsbury, New York Times bestselling author
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"Frank Peretti kicked open the doors that all of us Christian novelists are passing through today. We owe him a huge debt." —Jerry B. Jenkins, author, The Left Behind Series
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"Frank Peretti is a master storyteller. He has a way of using fiction to draw our attention to the very real spiritual world around us. His stories are modern day classics and I can't wait to see the impact Illusion has on readers!" —Michael W. Smith
Synopsis
A stunning new thriller from the father of Christian fiction--a grieving husband encounters a teen identical to his dead wife...in face, name, and magical skills.
Dane and Mandy, a popular magic act for forty years, are tragically separated by a car wreck that claims Mandy's life--or so everyone thinks. Even as Dane mourns and tries to rebuild his life without her, Mandy, supposedly dead, awakes in the present as the nineteen-year-old she was in 1970. Distraught and disoriented in what to her is the future, she is confined to a mental ward until she discovers a magical ability to pass invisibly through time and space to escape. Alone in a strange world, she uses her mysterious powers to eke out a living, performing magic on the streets and in a quaint coffee shop.
Hoping to discover an exciting new talent, Dane ventures into the coffee shop and is transfixed by the magic he sees, illusions that even he, a seasoned professional, cannot explain. But more than anything, he is emotionally devastated by this teenager who has never met him, doesn't know him, is certainly not in love with him, but is in every respect identical to the young beauty he first met and married some forty years earlier.
They begin a furtive relationship as mentor and protegee, but even as Dane tries to sort out who she really is and she tries to understand why she is drawn to him, they are watched by secretive interests who not only possess the answers to Mandy's powers and misplacement in time but also the roguish ability to decide what will become of her.
Frank Peretti has crafted a rich, rewarding story of love and life, loss and restoration, full of twists and mystery. Exceptionally well written, Illusion will soon prove another Peretti classic.
Synopsis
Dane and Mandy, a popular magic act for forty years, are tragically separated by a car wreck that claims Mandy’s life—or so everyone thinks. Even as Dane mourns and tries to rebuild his life without her, Mandy, supposedly dead, awakes in the present as the nineteen-year-old she was in 1970. Distraught and disoriented in what to her is the future, she is confined to a mental ward until she discovers a magical ability to pass invisibly through time and space to escape. Alone in a strange world, she uses her mysterious powers to eke out a living, performing magic on the streets and in a quaint coffee shop.
Hoping to discover an exciting new talent, Dane ventures into the coffee shop and is transfixed by the magic he sees, illusions that even he, a seasoned professional, cannot explain. But more than anything, he is emotionally devastated by this teenager who has never met him, doesn’t know him, is certainly not in love with him, but is in every respect identical to the young beauty he first met and married some forty years earlier.
They begin a furtive relationship as mentor and protégée, but even as Dane tries to sort out who she really is and she tries to understand why she is drawn to him, they are watched by secretive interests who not only possess the answers to Mandy’s powers and misplacement in time but also the roguish ability to decide what will become of her.
Frank Peretti has crafted a rich, rewarding story of love and life, loss and restoration, full of twists and mystery. Exceptionally well written, Illusion will soon prove another Peretti classic.
About the Author
With more than 12 million novels in print, Frank Peretti is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon and has been called “America’s hottest Christian novelist.” The Oath (Word Publishing 1995), sold more than half a million copies within the first six months of release. The Visitation (Word Publishing 1999), was #1 on the CBA Fiction Bestseller list for four months. Peretti is a natural storyteller who, as a youngster in Seattle, regularly gathered the neighborhood children for animated storytelling sessions. After graduating from high school, he began playing banjo with a local bluegrass group. He and his wife were married in 1972, and Peretti soon moved from touring with a pop band to launching a modest Christian music ministry. Peretti later spent time studying English, screen writing and film at UCLA and then assisted his father in pastoring a small Assembly of God church. In 1983, he gave up his pastoring position and began taking construction jobs to make ends meet. While working at a local ski factory, he began writing This Present Darkness, the book that would catapult him into the public eye. After numerous rejections from publishers and a slow start in sales, word-of-mouth enthusiasm finally lifted This Present Darkness onto a tidal wave of interest in spiritual warfare. The book appeared on Bookstore Journal’s bestseller list every month for more than eight years. Peretti’s two spiritual warfare novels, This Present Darkness (1998) and Piercing the Darkness (1989), captivated readers, together selling more than 3.5 million copies. The Oath was awarded the 1996 Gold Medallion Award for best fiction. Frank Peretti and his wife, Barbara Jean, live in the Western U.S. In spite of sudden fame and notoriety, Frank still lives a simple, well-rounded life that includes carpentry, banjo making, sculpturing, bicycling and hiking. He is also an avid pilot.