Review of The Girl in the Glass by Jeffrey Ford

It's fair to say a large portion of horror fiction's miles have been had from seances, necromancy, channeling, speaking with the dead, Aleister Crowley, divination—anything to do with the occult and occultish happenings. There is, naturally, a certain fascination with what lies beyond the light at the end of the tunnel, so much so a certain type of grifter thrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For these grifters, seances for communiques with the dead were the name, but the game was appearances and deception. The lengths these con artists went to 'selling their wares' is the stuff of legend. Digging into this rich sub-culture in a 1930s New York gangster scene is Jeffrey Ford's The Girl in the Glass (2005).

The Girl in the Glass is the story of Diego. Once a Mexican street kid, he was taken under the wing of a traveling performer named Schell and taught to be “Ondoo”, a mystical Hindu assistant helping Schell with seances. The pair, along with their jack-of-all-trades assistant Antony, travel the Long Island area, helping the rich commune with the departed. And quite successfully. The trio have grown rich, and in doing so have attracted the attention of an aristocrat named Barnes whose young daughter recently went missing. Invited to a session to help locate the girl, the three's carefully crafted world starts to unravel in the aftermath.

The Girl in the Glass is a darting, dashing novel that never stops anywhere too long. Sessions with the dead here, Tommy Gun shoot-outs there, KKK appearances here and rum running there, elaborate cons in the homes of the rich here and romance and daring-do there, add a little eugenics and a little sleight of hand and it's as dynamic a plot as you've read. For people wanting a wild ride, this is absolutely it.

There are a couple things that feel disingenuous about The Girl in the Glass, however. First is: Why is a crew of con artists trying to solve a murder mystery? A murder mystery is a murder mystery, and Ford strings a simple one along. But for as fast-paced as it moves, there is a nagging feeling in the back of the reader's head: what motivates the characters to be putting their lives on the line in these scenes? Secondly, the book's title feels like staid horror, not the slap-dash adventure/drama it is. Ford does a little bit in the closing scenes to make the image relevant, but it doesn't feel redolent, or at least as redolent as the speed of story. Something a bit more snappy, more representative would have fit better on the cover.

In the end, The Girl in the Glass is a fast, fun read set in the 1930s of New York. Never taking his foot off the pedal, Ford drives his novel full speed, braiding in whatever is necessary to keep things fresh without losing momentum. And so while the story is based around con artists performing seances, none of these scenes get the attention or suspense some readers may expect. This is a beach read that that may not have sticking power, depending on the reader.