Talisman
Eight of Swords, a mystery novel
Wanna see possibly the two ugliest Eight of Sword cards ever created ?
Okay, this may be a reach, but how many of you read genre fiction ? You know, fantasy, science fiction, mystery ? I do. Frequently.
So, in a hurry and in a mood, I cruised the library for some light reading and scooped up half a dozen books.
One was "Eight of Swords" by Davied Skibbins. This mystery novel was the winner of the St. Martin's Press best first traditional mystery contest. I discovered this after I got home. On the front and back cover are perhaps the two worst Eight of Swords Tarot cards I've ever seen.
Still, it is an interesting "first" mystery book, with decent characterization and enough suspense to keep you reading.
Reason I bring it up here is that the "sleuth" happens to be a professional Tarot card reader. And there are some interesting takes on reading the cards and how to bring the customers back. He used an RSW deck.
The Tarot card reader who is the first-person character reads at a table on the sidewalk in Berkeley, CA, and is very cynical about the operation, saying that on a sunny day he can clear $100, just "rattling off fortune-telling jive without paying too much attention." Reading, he says, is 90 percent observation and 10 percent inspiration. But -- good thing for the story -- turns out what the cards tell him is right.
I also liked this description of another Tarot card reader's deck: "I've never been able to find the deck he was using. It looked old. The edges of the cards were frayed. Several cards were torn or just worn through. Each card had been carefully remounted on thicker card stock to keep it from falling apart. . . . The pictures on the cards were from the Italian Renaissance period, but the images were surrealistic and disturbing . . ."
There are also several new and different spreads used in the book. (The author also takes a shot at the Celtic Cross, which, of course, I liked.)
If you visit the author's website, you can get a reading from his fictional sleuth.
Well, if you're looking for some light reading . . .
Talisman
Wanna see possibly the two ugliest Eight of Sword cards ever created ?
Okay, this may be a reach, but how many of you read genre fiction ? You know, fantasy, science fiction, mystery ? I do. Frequently.
So, in a hurry and in a mood, I cruised the library for some light reading and scooped up half a dozen books.
One was "Eight of Swords" by Davied Skibbins. This mystery novel was the winner of the St. Martin's Press best first traditional mystery contest. I discovered this after I got home. On the front and back cover are perhaps the two worst Eight of Swords Tarot cards I've ever seen.
Still, it is an interesting "first" mystery book, with decent characterization and enough suspense to keep you reading.
Reason I bring it up here is that the "sleuth" happens to be a professional Tarot card reader. And there are some interesting takes on reading the cards and how to bring the customers back. He used an RSW deck.
The Tarot card reader who is the first-person character reads at a table on the sidewalk in Berkeley, CA, and is very cynical about the operation, saying that on a sunny day he can clear $100, just "rattling off fortune-telling jive without paying too much attention." Reading, he says, is 90 percent observation and 10 percent inspiration. But -- good thing for the story -- turns out what the cards tell him is right.
I also liked this description of another Tarot card reader's deck: "I've never been able to find the deck he was using. It looked old. The edges of the cards were frayed. Several cards were torn or just worn through. Each card had been carefully remounted on thicker card stock to keep it from falling apart. . . . The pictures on the cards were from the Italian Renaissance period, but the images were surrealistic and disturbing . . ."
There are also several new and different spreads used in the book. (The author also takes a shot at the Celtic Cross, which, of course, I liked.)
If you visit the author's website, you can get a reading from his fictional sleuth.
Well, if you're looking for some light reading . . .
Talisman
