Illusion by Frank Peretti

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One thing I am enjoying with my work on the blog is the ability to do book reviews.  I’ve been blessed with the ability to read both new and established authors.  Some of the established authors are actually new to me and therefore might be new to you.

 

Frank Peretti is one such author.  He’s been a New York Times bestselling author in the past.  However, until Illusion reached my house, I had not read any of his work.

 

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.

 

 

My Thoughts ~

I have to start off by saying that the beginning chapters were a little disjointed as what was happening is definitely science fiction in nature.  However, it didn’t take long to start putting the pieces together.  And, honestly, it was less disjointed than some novels with inclusion of time travel or alternate time lines that I’ve read in the past.

 

Once the awkwardness was gone, the characters began to come to life and grab my attention.  There is such a wonderful love story laced throughout the novel.  That a ‘reset’ Mandy could feel such a pull to the man who was her husband for 40 years speaks to the existence of our soul and how man’s meddling can not thwart what God has ordained.  I loved how even in such a surreal existence, Mandy continues to place her trust in God with an eventual choice to accept whatever ending God has in store for her and Dane.

 

Beyond the love story, the reader is also presented with a cautionary tale of what can happen when man tries to meddle with life in such a god-like manner.  In the end, man’s meddling leads to more pain and often an end result that was not desired.

 

Now that I’ve experienced the enchanting storytelling of Frank Peretti, I am planning to read his earlier works as well.  I suspect I’ll be enjoying them.

 

Illusion is available in hardback format with a retail price of $26.99, audiobook (read by the author) for $44.95 retail, and ebook format for $12.99. October 23, 2012 should see the release in trade paperback with a retail price of $16.99.

 

Want to win your own advance reader copy of Illusion?  Head over to my Illusion giveaway page to enter by April 25th.

 

 

Disclaimer ~ I was sent an advance reader copy of this title to facilitate a review.  No monetary compensation occurred and all opinions are my own. Links to purchase this title are affiliate links.