Houdini Halloween Countdown: Houdini's Secrets

Reviewer Jathan Fink asks:

Harry Houdini admits to the Londons that he doesn’t fly anymore after a crash in Australia (pg. 52). Were there other facts you found out about the world’s greatest escape artist that surprised you?

HOUDINI HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN! Some Houdini secrets you discover in THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON

1. Houdini worked as a spy for the U.S. government in many capacities. When he preformed for the Tsar of Russia and the Chancellor of Germany he reported back his findings. The novel is set in 1915-16 just before America joined World War I and Houdini was involved with keeping our country safe. I never realized the Germans had ships along the North and South American coasts and we were trying to defend them. Panama Canal and Hawaii were involved in defending us, even though it was not common knowledge.

2. Houdini trained our military in escape techniques and concealing weapons and tools if caught as a POW.

3. Houdini never told the secret to his tricks to anyone, lest they steal them. His best friends thought he had supernatural powers to walk through brick walls, catch bullets with his teeth, change his body shape to escape anything. The famous actress Sara Bernhardt thought Houdini could give her back her amputated leg!

4. In [book:The Secret Life of Mrs. London|35655162, I bring six or seven of Houdini’s greatest illusions to life. How in the world did he make a 5-ton elephant disappear in front of a vast audiences’ eyes at the Hippodrome theater in NYC?