Every evening, deceive the honorable public, call on the ancient gods of wickedness, turn water into wine, kill beautiful maidens, who will then rise again safe and sound, give cynical souls the thrill of a miracle, habitually lie to adults, dreaming that they will become children. Inadvertently, as a favor to a stranger, steal a photograph from someone else's past - and your future no longer belongs to you. In damp Glasgow, in decadent Berlin, the secrets of someone else's history and your own magic will challenge you - and you will either accept it and be reborn, or give up on yourself forever. The classic “catch a bullet” trick is a risky endeavor, especially if the alleged victim has a hidden agenda. You just shoot wax - and in the end you end up with blood, a broken life and a great secret. In Louise Welsh's novel The Berlin Trick, miracles may not be real, but mystery and blood are real. Every evening, an exhausted man transforms into a magician. This is the job of a magician.