Intense rivalry among the saloons brings top-notch talent to the Barbary Coast as the owners entice customers with the celebrities they host. Harry Houdini appears in his early days as an escapologist as do Belle Conquest, a Mae West prequel who surrounds herself with attractive young males as “bodyguards” and Eulalia Paradino, a famous spiritualist. The latter is a thorn in the side to Houdini who has made it his mission to expose all such mediums for the charlatans they are. Belle brings with her a fabulous ruby attracting its share of rogues and thieves. Into this milieu steps Jack London well known habitué of such an environment.

He quickly finds himself befriending Houdini, watching out for the ruby while fending off its amorous owner, and hoping to expose the clairvoyant whose presence brings back painful childhood memories of times his mother used him in her own séances. Add Jack’s talented girlfriend, dancer and owner of the bar which hosts the lovely Belle, Ambrose Bierce, writer/publisher and man about town, Bret Harte, Stephen Crane, and assorted assassins, unscrupulous politicians, a mysterious Mandarin, dynamite, a crippling dockworker strike and threat of blood in the streets and you have a tale fit for Jack London indeed.

Yet much of the tale strikes a false note. The Belle Conquest character is far too lascivious and raunchy for my taste. She appears to have ice water in her veins even when her “bodyguards” die brutally tortured. Jack’s personal relationship reminds me of Matt Dillon and “Miss” Kitty vaguely undefined. Most unbelievable is London’s musings on his writing efforts. His thoughts seem more apropos for a college literary critic than an 1890s writer. Do you actually think he wondered about the credibility of his female characters and labored to make them more central to his work? I don’t buy it and it doesn’t work with the persona King creates for London.

I find little fault in King’s historical work but wished he had given more thought to developing relationships such as expounding on the Houdini/London friendship and less to the fighting and brawling. I seriously doubt that Jack London could have sustained such regular bouts of unconsciousness without grave brain damage. He is knocked cold three times in as many days! His escapes are unbelievable as is the convoluted plot. I was reminded of B-grade movies as opposed to film noir. Just as London honed his skills as his career progressed let us hope the Mr. King will improve in his next effort.

--Jane Davis