The Conjurer's Boy

Part coming-of-age tale, part fantasy, The Conjurer's Boy is the saga of Thomas Faye, who runs into a Chicago junk shop in the fall of 1962 and is changed forever by the two mysterious old men he meets there. Farrell, the proprietor of the shop, is a sometime magician, raconteur, a survivor of the Battle of the Somme, and a healer who can close a wound with a touch of his hand. Meyer is a street battler, much older than he looks, a survivor of the fall of the Warsaw Ghetto. Under their influence, Thomas embarks on his own series of adventures, which will take him to Vietnam and the far corners of America.

John P. Farris

"Michael Raleigh hits a home run this book. I really loved In the Castle of the Flynns but this is even better. For those of us who grew up in Chicago during the time frame of the book, much less walked or drove the same streets, this book is a real and personal journey through a child's, young man's and man's life. There were parts that were dark and there were no easy outs. Everyone has a Conjurer in their life; they just need to listen, try to understand and take the hand-off from another generation. If Raleigh were only a Southsider and set his books there [South Side Chicago], he would be on the New York times best seller lists for years!"

About the Author

Michael Raleigh is the author of seven previous novels, including In The Castle of the Flynns. He has received the Eugene Izzi award for crime fiction and four Illinois Arts Council awards for fiction. He teaches writing at DePaul University and lives in Chicago with his wife Katherine and his three children.

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