Beta - The Magician's Gambit (SLOTS FULL THANKS!)

Eleven-year-old David Chaplin gets dragged to a new town for the third time in a year, and he can’t figure out what keeps his father on the move. Now a slew of garishly dressed weirdos are watching his house at night, leading David to the truth: his father’s a magician and a thief.

He’s been on the run since stealing Halifac’s Hand—fortunetelling cards that secure the fate of whoever’s fortune is read, including killing the living, or bringing the dead back to life. David’s father’s old stage-rival, Viktor Gervais, wants back what was stolen, and intends to use the cards to kill David’s father, as he’d once killed his mother.

David is certain that he can protect his father from Gervais, and even bring his mother back from the dead, if he can figure out where his father hid the cards. But his search hits a wall when his father, who doesn’t want him involved with magic, threatens to wipe David’s memory of everything he’s learned.

Aided by transporting broom closets, marvelous marbles that can mend memories, and the clues within a curious combusting message, David tracks down Halifac’s Hand against his father’s wishes. Only, Gervais won’t let up, leaving David to make a powerful decision: use the cards to bring back the mother he sorely misses, or destroy them, and save his father’s life.

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