e-Audio, 04:06:52
Narrated by: Mia Barron
Release Date: November 26, 2024
Published by: Recorded Books, Inc.
Read from: November 27-December 1, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
Content Warning:
For Readers Interested In: Paranormal, Ghosts, Non-fiction, YAThe latest from acclaimed author Gail Jarrow reveals how magicians—including Harry Houdini and his team of investigators—exposed fake mediums who exploited the vulnerable and gullible in the early twentieth century.
After millions of people died during World War I and from the 1918 influenza pandemic, the popularity of Spiritualism soared. Desperate to communicate with their dead loved ones, the bereaved fell prey to extortion by fraudulent mediums and fortune-tellers.
But magician Harry Houdini wasn’t fooled. He recognized the scammers’ methods as no more than conjurer’s tricks. Angered by the way people were exploited, Houdini set out to expose the ghost hoaxes. In his stage show, he revealed the fraudsters’ techniques, and he used a team of undercover investigators to collect proof of séance deceptions. His head secret agent was a young New York private detective and disguise expert, Rose Mackenberg—a woman who continued her ghost-busting career for decades, long after Houdini’s death in 1926.
Ideal for young readers and adults who are drawn to the worlds of psychics and magicians, this riveting book uncovers a little-known chapter in American history and details the ways people were (and still are) deceived by mediums and fortune-tellers.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I always find it so weird trying to review non-fiction. I have to remind myself not to talk about the content, but how it made me feel lol So that’s what I’m going to try to do here and how my expectations changed as I went on.
Ok so the main thing I didn’t like was the way it only debunked everything. I wanted to see more of the actual ghost stuff AND THEN how they debunked it. It just felt incredibly info dumpy and I got bored after a while. I think it may have been a me thing tho because I LOVE ghosts and I’m a believer, so this really made me turn my nose up lol I don’t think this is one I would have read if I wasn’t reading it for school.
I DID like learning about some of these people tho. I hadn’t heard of all of those scammers before. I can’t imagine the research that Jarrow had to do. And what kind of questions she had to ask lol But I thought it was pretty cool that she had all of this information. I do wish she had some more recent people like that Teresa lady or even that dude that “didn’t know who Left Eye was….” But I guess they might still be booked up. I really hope they’re not like their counterparts are and they are actually able to give people some closure.
Idk this was ok but I think it could have been better. I like my non-fiction more narrative like, especially since this is about a topic that I’m passionate about. However, since I liked the information, just not the way it was presented, I do wish there was a little bit more to this one.
Overall, I give this
