Narrator Nick Framingham is suffering from depression and some other -sions after the suicide of his long-time best friend Rob Castor.  Frustrated by writer's block, Rob became unstable and murdered his former lover, whose success as a writer surpassed his, before ending his own life.  Rob had been a celebrated short-story writer who had moved on to New York City and the high life from upstate Monarch, which had proudly hailed him as a native son.  Nick had maintained close contact with Rob, relishing the reflected glory of Rob's glamorous life and career.  Rob's actions have deeply affected his friends from Monarch, no one more than Nick who cannot move past his grief.

Nick and his wife Lucy are the parents of two boys.  Nick believes that Lucy does not share or understand his bereavement.  Their marriage is on a downward spiral.  When Nick establishes contact with Rob's sister Belinda, the distance between him and Lucy increases.

That may not seem like much of a plot, but that's about all there is.  Now You See Him meanders between past and present, action and introspection.  This is a character-driven novel; the central theme is an examination of Nick's and Rob's relationship.  At times the slow-moving plot seems mired and stagnant, not a desirable quality for a suspense novel.  The blurb on the dust jacket refers to “the novel's startling conclusion,” but it takes a long time to get there.  The teaser in the blurb may be intended to convince the reader to stick with the book all the way to the bitter end. 

As is typical of first-person point-of-view, all the characters and events are presented from Nick's perspective.  This point of view is most successful when the narrator is a character the reader can identify with or admire.  Nick Framingham is not such a character.  Self-absorbed and egocentric, he is mostly oblivious to his own faults and willing to cast blame on others, especially his long-suffering wife.  In fact, Lucy's insights are well founded.  It's hard not to believe that as his life unravels, Nick is getting what he deserves.

The best feature of Now You See Him is the author's elegant use of language.  This is one of those books that writing instructors love to dissect sentence by sentence.  It is most likely to be of interest to readers who appreciate a book for its literary quality.  Readers who are hoping for a driving plot or nail-biting suspense will probably be disappointed. 

--Lesley Dunlap