I first fell in love with the Free Will premise after seeing something like it in Marc Paul's Alakazam Lecture and added it to my routine. After getting great responses and feedback I began looking into its different variations. It popped up again in Paul Vigil's Live Act, the version I currently carry for walkaround mentalism. All in all, I've been using free will plots for about 6 months now, but I'm not ashamed to say that I still didn't really know much about them, their origin, variations, and evolution. It was shortly after my exploration began that a trusted friend on here (The Unmasked Magician) tipped me off to Mark's book.

This is the first book by Mark that I've read and I can safely say it's a hit for me. He's an entertaining and intelligent author and clearly demonstrates a firm understanding of the fundamental concepts behind a free will plot such as scripting, timing, outs, equivoque, and other contingencies. It's worth noting that within the first effect he mentions that if the idea of "Out to Lunch" is unfamiliar to you, then it is possible you found this book "too soon" in your journey into mentalism. Initially, I thought it was a bit bold of him to set his own 'recommended level of entry' (so to speak), but it's a pretty fair level and a valid point, to be honest. It's certainly not meant to discourage anyone from reading. He plainly states that if you aren't familiar, it may be beneficial to go back and familiarize yourself with more classic material before revisiting his, but it isn't absolutely necessary and there is still much to be gained from reading this at any stage in your development. I think I discovered this book at exactly the right time in my own journey.

As for the content, there is some overlap here, but that's to be expected in a book examining variations on a single premise. The selected effects utilize a variety of presentations from a spectrum of quality creators. Despite all sharing the same premise, the material never felt repetitive or redundant; each variation brings something new to the premise or fleshes out ideas that were established in another. The referenced materials in this text will also give curious budding mentalists some homework for the near future.

I especially enjoyed Drew Backenstoss and Patrick Redford's contributions; I already knew Drew's from his outstanding book Architect of the Mind, but I was glad to see Patrick's material here as well (both of them are amazingly gifted creators that I've quickly come to respect and appreciate as guides on my own journey, the same can now be said for Mark). Both of their effects are previously published in projects by their respective creators, but they are excellent additions that certainly belong here.

That does mean some of the other featured routines are previously published, but that doesn't mean there's nothing new to be found here. Mark's own routines were some of the highlights for me. I loved his effect Free Balling; I actually got to try it out a couple of separate times this morning with my coworkers (my regular trial participants) and love the way it plays out. The colored papers also allow you to work in a bit of color reading if you're into that. There was also something fitting about using colored Post-It notes in an office setting Smile I'm definitely adding it to my table/parlor set moving forward.

Another real bonus (for me at least) was the inclusion of a handful of flow charts of the possible outcomes in a few effects. As a visual learner, I get excited when I see a flow chart or infographic, so that was a nice touch. To clarify, the flow charts are not included with every effect, just the first few, but they really aren't necessary if you've got a handle on the basic premise.

For those that don't already have a favorite Free Will effect or perhaps aren't familiar with the premise, I highly recommend finding a copy of this book. If you already have a favorite presentation and are intimately familiar, I would still absolutely recommend this book to help evolve and polish your current Free Will effects or discover something new. Also, it's simply a gorgeous book worth collecting, love the green leather binding. Haresign Press is quickly becoming my favorite publishing house for quality content in a beautiful binding. This book fits perfectly on the shelf alongside Architect of the Mind and The Intrepid Young Rogue's Manual of Deception.

At its low price point of $65 on Penguin (with free shipping) and all of the quality content within, this book is an absolutely amazing value.

I'll try to post a follow-up review once I've had a chance to demo more of the other material, but on the quality of the book and Mark's material alone

Mark provides humor in explaining background and the how to aspect of Free will. I found it a bit repetitive in what I felt was not really advancing the basics or the plot. There will ,however, be some free will tricks that I will use.

An excellent book on different applications of Free Will principle. This book will undoubtedly open up new avenues of thinking on how to use this principle. Recommended.

Some very nice effects. Also many ideas that could be used in other effects. The contributions by Mark Elsdon and Michael Murray are really good. I will definitely use several effects from this book.

I am fascinated by the "Free Will" plot and method combination. However, based on this book, and a recent Intagram post by a well-liked mentalist, I now realize that many mentalists or magicians view the plot as "Free Will" divorced from the method, i.e., you have that; I have this; and the other was not chose / put away.

So the methods start to devolve into gimmicks for multiple outs and perhaps some equivoque to reduce the possible outcomes. I don't see how this is somehow distinct from what came before "Free Will."

For me, the ambiguity of the "Free Will" method is part of the gestalt of the effect. Add gimmickry, great. Multiple outs, fine. A bit of equivoque, sure.

The original effect is so charming, and the book's intention was to reduce it to a common magic trick. It was disappointing to me that the major thesis was how to make the plot of "yours, mine, and object not chosen" come out perfect -- magic, not mentalism.

The book does contain clever methods and gimmicks that I could see myself using elsewhere. But it fails to live up to the charming original "Free Will."

Mark provides humor in explaining background and the how to aspect of Free will. I found it a bit repetitive in what I felt was not really advancing the basics or the plot. There will ,however, be some free will tricks that I will use.

These are several variations of the Free Will effect, and as with any collection on a single trick there are some strong ones and weak ones here. The thing I don't care for is the fact that a few require a very, very expensive item from ProMystic in order to make them work. If you already have the item, you probably already do these very effects as described, so I can't imagine this being as beneficial.

Some of the effects require other props such as trick wallets and such, and there is definitely some memorization needed for a few of them. However, if you are going to add this effect in your act, you'll probably find one version here you can use. I really love Drew Backenstoss's version which uses a "word disassociation test" as the opener and kicker end. There is also an effect using three different color paper balls that is wonderfully visual enough to be adapted to a stage routine once you have the memorization down.

Again, I don't see anyone using all of these, but I do think this is very beneficial for those who are looking to bring this type effect into their show. If nothing else, this will spark some very creative thinking toward creating your own version over time.

Nothing wow!
Effects are too long/boring.
Definitely not for a hobbyist!