George Thomassy

The Magician is the now famous story of two 16-year-old antagonists locked in the crucible of their high school from which neither can escape. Ed Japhet gives a skillful performance of magic at the school prom. After the prom, Ed and his girlfriend are beset by Urek, the leader of a school gang that extracts extortion money by "renting" kids their own lockers. Ed is the only student who refuses to pay extortion money. Urek's fury at Japhet's defiance results in an attempted murder, a criminal trial, and death, with a shocker of an ending.

What does a man know about love? This is the story of three very different men in love with the same woman. It is also the story of that woman, Francine Widmer: twenty-seven, beautiful, intelligent, resourceful, and insistent on running her own life. Suddenly, control of Francine’s life is...