To find his father, a young man joins a vaudeville troupe with dark secrets in this “finely crafted” historical fantasy thriller (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Vaudeville is an absurd, mercenary world of showmanship clashing cultures and wickedly delightful deceptions. But sixteen-year-old pianist George Carole has joined vaudeville for one reason only: to find the man he suspects to be his father, the great Heironomo Silenus. Yet as he chases down his father’s troupe, he begins to understand that their performances are strange even for vaudeville: for wherever they happen to tour, the very nature of the world seems to change.
Because there is a secret within Silenus’s show so ancient and dangerous that it has won him many powerful enemies. And once George joins them, he realizes the troupe is not simply touring: they are running for their lives. And now so is he.
