AS book test go, this has great potential. The trailer is slightly misleading, as it doesn't emphasize the major method taught, inserting a playing card into the book to "bookmark" the page. However, the DVD is thorough and all aspects/handling are taught in detail. Be forewarned, this will require practice and making/handling a gimmick. It is not self-working or, in my opinion, for the beginner. It is an effect that is going to take some practice, both in handling the gimmick and the participants. Don't expect to simply watch the DVD and start performing it. Even skilled mentalists/magicians will require practice to find which method and effect they are most comfortable performing. Properly done, it can be a stunner. Valentine is obviously a master at performing it. If your comfortable handling/switching billets and have the necessary boldness to control the participants, your audience will be astounded. The effect can be significantly enhanced using a gimmick wallet, almost any loadable or Himber wallet will do. I took off one star because the trailer is slightly misleading.

Here's what I love about this book test.

1) You can genuinely use pretty much any book they give you. Walk into any bookstore, library or living room and let them give you a book. So the book is fully examinable. You could even do it with foreign language books if you wanted to.

2) They can genuinely choose any page they want.

3) You can predict what word they will pick in any way you'd like (e.g. have it written on the ball of paper tossed around by the audience to choose them).

4) They'll never be able to accuse you of peaking at the word. They take the book away the second it's closed.

5) If you want to, you can have it be that they pick one word and then either change their mind or a second spectator picks a totally different word from the same book.

This thing is sheer genius.

This is by far the best book test ever made I have not been a fan of book tests until now, Thanks Steve for making it fun!!

Wow! For simplicity, flexibility and impact, "Booked" will be hard to beat. I've performed at least a dozen different book/magazine tests over the years and I must admit this is the BEST in real-world situations. Steve does a terrific job of showing how to make gaffs for ANY situation (including being given a book in another language!) and his incredible versions of the "pegasus page" theme are breathtaking. My favorite is a an "extreme" handling where the page is selected and signed - moments later to be seen as MISSING (torn out) from the book and the SIGNED page revealed in a wallet, under a glass, wherever you choose. Thank you Steve for sharing all your thinking with the magic/mentalism community. The book test/pegasus page routine will most likely become the finale to my parlor act. Best money I've spent on a book test in a LONG time.

This is absolute genius and I will use this over and over again. You can make everything you need in 10 minutes and it's fun. You can do a double prediction on stage...one person selects a book, one looks at a word, another looks at the page number and the last opens the prediction envelope and reveals you're totally correct.

THIS WILL AMAZE your audience and it's very, very easy to do.

I was hesitant to purchase "Booked" at first. Some were saying it was nothing new. However, I found "Booked" to be a valuable mentalism tool with an ingenious gimmick. Steve Valentine does a very thorough job of going through the creation of the gimmick and its variations. He gives complete explanations of the various routines as well as valuable advice on how to handle things that could happen during a performance. You can tell he has completely "worked" each of his "Booked" routines for years and years. The more I watched the DVD, the more I realized this was an amazing book test that would make audiences jaws drop to the floor. "Booked" is definitely a book test that I will use.

This is a great book test. Steve gives SO much information...maybe too much, but all of it is useful and appreciated. I've already made up several gimmicks with plans for more. I cannot believe how thorough he is. You can tell that this is something he uses in real performances...to make money from paid gigs and not something (like so many others) that he has dumped on the market in the hopes of making some bucks and never does himself. This is a quality effect

This is absolutely a "brilliant" trick. So glad he gave up his secret and so glad I bought it. It is really a GREAT effect...............it seems impossible....... it really blows people away. Thanks for making it available.

The only other book test I have like is 'bookless book test" by Collin McLeod. Generally I disliked the whole concept of a book tests. Steve Valentine, provides such an excellent DVD he has helped me to justify a book test! Brilliant! I have not liked others and do not perform them because I want a really "impromptu? feel.

This is the book test... Walk into a book store, challenge anyone to grab a book. You not only read their mind, but push it to amazing levels with an impossible prediction.

Killer mentalism. This method makes me actually like the book test for the first time. Thank you Steve Valentine.

Cheers,
Bob

I am a beginner in the field of mentalism, and I am looking for effects that are not too hard to perform, require little to no sleights, and deliver big. These are the kind of effects that a newbie like myself needs to build experience and, more importantly, confidence. Booked does exactly this, and how!! This is a phenomenal book test; insanely easy to perform, it works with any book, it can be done totally impromptu or, with a little preparation, it can be performed in an extra spectacular way, with multiple effects linked to one another. Everyone I showed the effect to was astonished, especially since I seemed to suddenly upgrade from basic "choose a card" tricks and "word in a million" type of book tests to what looks like only the most skilled pro could do. It also solves the issue of many mentalist routines that the end is known (you choose a word, I learn that word). The ending can be absolutely astonishing and, the way I do it (combining Booked with a Showdown Wallet), everything is completely examinable at the end.
I'll keep exploring book tests and improving my culture in the field, but for now this book test seems pretty unbeatable.

PROS:
- no gaffed books
- any book, any time, any situation
- no telltale instructions to the spectator ("choose a long word...")
- you can involve several spectators in a very organic way
- no pumping, anagrams, etc
- $30 for a system that you can use hundreds of times, on any book, and to produce much more of an eye-popping effect than a standard mind-reading effect.

CONS:
- Once you have this, you'll regret spending all that money on expensive gaffed books. :-)

The dvd is excellent. Steve's personality shines through, which makes watching the dvd very enjoyable, and he goes to a great length to explain how the system works, describe variants, share ideas about presentation, showing the false steps to avoid, etc.

If you are a beginner and want something that will immediately give you confidence and will produce astounding results, order Booked already! If you are pro, well, order Booked already too!! It is just that amazing.