Illusion by Frank Peretti -- a review and a giveaway

It's been a while since I have read any of Frank Peretti's books.  Since I remembered liking the books of his that I read before, I jumped at the opportunity to read another of his books and review it for this blog!

While all the other books of Peretti's that I have read were very Spiritual (and Spiritual Warfare) in nature... I felt that Illusion was much more human... and of this world.  Not only is Illusion more human, it's also more magical and psychological in nature... I really had to focus to follow what was happening.

Mandy and Dane Collins are an amazing team of magicians.  They met and married at an early age and performed together for many, many years.  Just when they decide to slow down, buy a ranch and just enjoy one another, their time is cut short by a drunk driver who slams into the side of their car, killing Mandy.  Now, Dane must continue on as planned, going to Idaho and living on the ranch that they had purchased.  As he is leaving the hospital, the emergency room doctor, Kessler, pulls him aside and warns that with the head trauma and medicine that he is on, he may have some hallucinations that make him think he is seeing his wife and if he does, please call.

While the world and Dane are mourning Mandy's death, she awakens in the present as the 19 year old girl she was in 1970.  Unsure as to where she is and why she thinks it should be 1970 and the world around her says it's 2010, she decides to "lay low" and take her mother's middle and maiden names in order to keep people from thinking she is crazy and to find a job.  Without any ID, the only jobs she can get are a street performer and later a performer in a local coffee shop.  She is now Eloise Kramer.  While perfecting her performances, she is drawn to Dane and doesn't really know why... just that God must want it to be.  She also continues to have strange encounters, both during her magic shows and in her life in general.  Why do certain faces continue to pop up in her memory? Who are they and what are they to her? Who are the men who tried to attack her?  And, the question most on her mind-- why is she out of her own time?

Eventually, Dane becomes her mentor and she flourishes under his tutelage, until it becomes too much for him emotionally.  So much so, that he tries to contact Dr. Kessler, the doctor who had warned him of hallucinations.

This book has so many twists and turns and surprises.  It's a pleasure to read, even though there were times I had to grab the tissues!  It is a book of love and loss, of magic and of science, of life and restoration.  I would definitely recommend this book.

For more information about Frank, visit his website here or follow him on Facebook or Twitter.

Now, for the giveaway:  I have one copy of the book to give away.  This giveaway is open only to the United States (sorry).  Please leave a comment here on this blog and you will be entered for the giveaway.  Share the giveaway (on Facebook, Twitter or your own blog) and for each share, come back and make a separate comment for additional entries.  This giveaway will end Wednesday, April 4th @ 12pm (noon).  I will announce the winner Thursday.

Enjoy!