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Disappearing Nightly (Esther Diamond Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Laura Resnick
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
RRP: £5.25
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Disappearing Nightly (Esther Diamond Novels) + Doppelgangster (Esther Diamond Novels) + Vamparazzi: An Esther Diamond Novel (Esther Diamond Novels)
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Product details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 386 pages
  • Publisher: Daw Books; Reprint edition (5 Jun 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0756407664
  • ISBN-13: 978-0756407667
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.8 x 2.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 898,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Something different 18 Sep 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I loved this book when I first read it and it has been growing on me the more times I re-read it.It is definitely a keeper.There is some magic in it but the heroine uses her common sense and whatever and whoever is around to meet the threat to herself and others head on.Go on try the book and I promise you won't be dissapointed .Bring on "Dopplegangsters " Laura.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A feather-light mystery-comedy-romance 31 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback
This is an amusing mystery novel that fills the supernatural-show-biz-working girl-comedy-romance niche. (And you just can't have too many of those, can you?)

"Disappearing Nightly" is one of those ostensibly funny books for which the comments, "smart, cool and wicked funny," and "screwball comedy adventure," appearing on the cover blurbs actually contain grains of truth, a middling rare thing. There are actually a few good laughs. More than that, the author knows what a punchline is, has a reliable sense of comic pacing and manages to toss out some effective wisecracks.

All these things have led at least one earlier Amazon US reviewer to label the book as a Janet Evanovich imitation. Far worse things might be said about any book. Nevertheless, I would suggest a different and, I think, better model. The blurb on the back cover has it right with the words, "screwball comedy." Admittedly, the book doesn't achieve the rarified heights of "Bringing Up Baby" or "The Lady Eve," but it certainly catches the tone and flavor of film outings by Joan Blondell and Lucille Ball during the late 1930s and through the 40s.

In fact, as I was reading the book, I found myself casting it as a B+ feature from RKO in 1940. Esther, the self-reliant, wisecracking, off-Broadway understudy would be Joan Blondell (or Lucy if Joan were tied up with another film.) Doc Zadok would be Roland Young (or Leon Errol with Lucy), Lysander, Alan Mowbray; Magnus, Edgar Kennedy and Cowboy Duke, Ralph Bellamy (of course!) The smaller parts for young women could be spread among the era's usual coterie of screen chorines and a small but potentially memorable part for a somewhat older lady could tossed up for grabs among the many superb character actresses then on the payrolls of the studios. Casting the gay transvestites might have been a trifle more difficult in those days, but keep in mind that Cary Grant was wearing a frilly negligee in "Bringing Up Baby" when he announced "I've gone gay!" For Hieronymus, I find myself torn between Mickey Rooney and Shemp Howard.

To those of you for whom Blondell and RKO are at one with Burbage and the Globe and they, in turn, with Roscius and the amphitheater, let me suggest a more recent exemplar: call Doc Zadok "the Doctor," then imagine a TARDIS lurking somewhere in the background, modify the supernatural mumbo-jumbo into pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo, and--presto!--you have a fine Doctor Who episode. (I hasten to clarify that I do not refer to the present (2007) series or to either of the two comparatively youthful twits currently disgracing the part, but to the vintage, middle-aged or even downright elderly Doctors of the past.)

I have every intention of snatching up the next of Esther's adventures when I stumble upon it and I might even give a try to Ms. Resnik's earlier heroic fantasies. As far as I'm concerned, that sufficiently justifies a five star rating.
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Amazon.com: 4.3 out of 5 stars  32 reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Cheesy but fun 26 Dec 2005
By Deborah Wiley - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Laura Resnick creates the oddest assortment of characters to investigate a series of disappearances that occur onstage during a magician's act. Women (and one tiger) are disappearing regularly right at the peak of the illusion act involving a vanishing box. The magician's vary- from Joe the perpetually nervous, to Darling Delilah, a drag queen, to the Great Hidalgo who is actually Barclay the stockbroker, to Duke the rhinestone cowboy, to Goudini who is only worried about the return of his tiger, Alice. Esther Diamond is the central figure in the story who narrowly escapes being one of the disappearing acts when Max, a 350 year old alchemist, contacts her to warn her not to continue with the act. Max is a member of the Magnum Collegium, a consortium of true magicians who fight Evil. Esther, together with Max, the aforementioned magicians, and several other unusual characters band together to investigate the disappearances. Meanwhile, Esther herself is a suspect in the Detective Lopez's investigation as she was the understudy to Golly Gee (yes, that was her real name!) when Golly Gee disappeared. This is a cheesy but fun story and I am looking forward to what Resnick will do with the next installment in the series.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A fun read 3 Jan 2006
By Frank J. Konopka - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Every so often I like to take a break from more serious books, and get a laugh from my reading. I saw this book and read the back cover, and it intrigued me, so I bought it. How can anyone not enjoy reading a book that, as a plot device, has magicians' assistants disappearing from a small box or cage, and then not reappearing? The plot gets really strange when a 350 year old magus turns up, and then more oddball characters. There are evil magicians, demons, and singing vegetables, all guaranteed to bring loud laughter from you! Enjoy, enjoy!
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic, mystery, and fun 25 Jan 2006
By N. Horner - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
A paranormal mystery in which magicians' assistants actually disappear during disappearing illusions, this book introduces the main character in a new series called "Manhattan Magic."

Esther Diamond gets the chance to be the star of an off-Broadway show when magician's assistant Golly Gee literally dematerializes during the height of the show and doesn't return, bumping Esther up from her job as understudy and lowly wood nymph to a key role. But when Esther receives a dire note and a newspaper clipping about a second disappearance, followed by a visit from a 350-year-old mage, she begins to realize that she must unravel the mystery or risk her own disappearance.

A surprisingly satisfying book. The dialogue was snappy and fun, the mystery unique and the characters a hilarious bunch of misfits. You can't help but root for the good guys as Esther and her growing band of helpers seek out the answers that will help them fight Evil and locate those who have disappeared. There's even some minor but gratifying romantic subplot.

I bought this book in order to get a feel for the style of writing desired by this publisher and ended up trying to squeeze in every moment I could to sit and read. I was stunned by the intelligent, humorous writing. Not an earth-shattering book of lyrical beauty that will end up winning awards all over the place, but I feel like it deserves my highest rating because it was just so darned fun. I can hardly stand the idea that the second book in this new series will not appear till December.
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