The Shoemaker's Magician

Written by Cynthia Pelayo

Narrated by Sophia Willingham

"[A] delicious foray into the occult." - The New York Times

" This tale is a must-purchase for Pelayo’s gorgeously written love letter to horror movies and Chicago, a city brimming with eclectic tales, urban horrors, and palpable magic." - Library Journal, Starred Review

A fabled lost movie. An increasing body count. How much do you risk for art?

Paloma has been watching the Grand Vespertilio Show her entire life. Grand, America’s most beloved horror host showcases classic, low-budget and cult horror movies with a flourish, wearing his black tuxedo and hat, but Paloma has noticed something strange about Grand, stranger than his dark make-up and Gothic television set.

After Paloma’s husband, a homicide detective, discovers an obscure movie poster pinned on a mutilated corpse on stage at the Chicago Theater, she knows that the only person that can help solve this mystery is Grand. When another body appears at an abandoned historic movie palace the deaths prove to be connected to a silent film, lost to the ages, but somehow at the center of countless tragedies in Chicago.

The closer Paloma gets to Grand she discovers that his reach is far greater than her first love, horror movies, and even this film. And she soon becomes trapped between protecting a silent movie that’s contributed to so much death in her city and the life of her young son.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spotify Audiobooks
• Release date: Mar 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669661900

Cynthia Pelayo

Cynthia “Cina” Pelayo is an International Latino Book Award winning and three-time Bram Stoker Awards® nominated poet and author of CHILDREN OF CHICAGO, LOTERIA, SANTA MUERTE, THE MISSING, and POEMS OF MY NIGHT, which was also nominated for an Elgin Award. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Columbia College, a Master of Science in Marketing from Roosevelt University, a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is a Doctoral Candidate in Business Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Cina was raised in inner city Chicago, where she lives with her husband and children. Find her online at www.cinapelayo.com and on Twitter @cinapelayo

Reviews for The Shoemaker's Magician

[chelsea meshko · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Interesting and surprisingly informative! There is something for everyone in this book!

[Talyna Sandine · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sorry for the bad review but This story could have been told in 15 chapters rather than 33. Main theme should have been Bella’s skills and his involvement but this seemed to be a secondary thought and wasn’t fleshed out. Too much irrelevant information about the movies. It could have been interesting but too much detail about a sub-theme made it boring.

[Teri Wise · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Darker than the books I usually read (listen). If the story wasn’t so interesting I would not have finished it. Some of the movie segments dragged and I don’t feel they really added to the story.