This is a fascinating novel by Eli Gottlieb. Nick
Framingham is coming to terms with the death of his best friend, Rob
Castor, who had seemed to have a stellar career in New York as an
author. Not only has Rob committed suicide, but he also murdered his
ex-girlfriend Kate Pierce. That would be traumatic for anyone, but
Rob’s death is just the first in the series of dominoes that shatters
Nick’s life. Lucy, Nick’s wife, has problems with the fact that Nick
seems to be absenting himself away from her and the children in the wake
of his grief, and is none too impressed when he meets Belinda again,
since Belinda was Nick’s first love, as well as Rob’s sister. As his
marriage disintegrates, Nick tries to engage with his children, but
seems unable to loosen their bond to their mother in any way. This
stokes up memories of the distant relationship that he had with his own
father. The decline of Nick’s marriage is superbly dealt with by Eli
Gottlieb as he takes Nick and Lucy on an all-too familiar journey. As
painful as their imminent separation is to Nick, this is nothing
compared to the ghosts that rise up from his childhood, as old family
secrets seem to threaten his whole concept of identity… This is a
beautifully related narrative, although one would have thought that one
of the secrets concerning Nick’s past would have been revealed when he
first started dating Belinda. There’s much drama to be had in this
novel from the death of the prudish conventions that were observed by
the previous generation. I found the scene that depicted Kate’s murder
to be suitably poetic (since it involved writers as both assailant and
victim). Now You See Him is a very compelling novel that never fails to surprise in its relation of Nick’s deepest dark secrets…
