Rome: In the small church of Santa Giuliana, a magnificent Caravaggio altarpiece disappears without a trace in the middle of the night.
Paris: In the basement vault of the Malevich Society, the curator is shocked to discover the disappearance of the Society’s great treasure, White on White by Suprematist painter Kasimir Malevich.
London: At the National Gallery of Modern Art, the museum’s newest acquisition is stolen just hours after it was purchased for £6.3 million.
Three apparently unrelated art thefts have more in common than anyone imagines. As a renowned art investigator, a police inspector, and a Scotland Yard inspector take up their separate investigations, a trail of bizarre clues and intellectual puzzles reveals forgeries, over-paintings, and double crosses in an ever-deepening conspiracy.
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"A wonderful read. Not altogether difficult to figure out the culprit, but so enjoyable I didn't mind so much and there were a few unexpected surprises left for the end. Nicely written , with a few beautifully turned phrases. The kind that make me catch my breath and stop to copy them down." — Stacey (4 out of 5 stars)
"A wonderful read. Not altogether difficult to figure out the culprit, but so enjoyable I didn't mind so much and there were a few unexpected surprises left for the end. Nicely written , with a few beautifully turned phrases. The kind that make me catch my breath and stop to copy them down."
“A sprawling tapestry of deceit, honor, love, and triumph...this book will entertain you from the first page to the last.”
“Hilarious! Delicious! This deftly plotted mystery is filled with art and French food and delightful heroines and heroes…Simon Vance uses rich accents to create a believable Gallic atmosphere as he ‘ooo-la-las!’ his way through a series of gastronomic adventures, making listeners’ mouths water at the same time that their sides ache with laughter.”
“Charney crafts an intellectual masterpiece in this work that sweeps through three of the worlds most art-filled cities. This novel is a witty, fast-paced page-turner full of artistic symbolism and insider knowledge about legendary art thefts, forgeries, and secret engravings.”
“Debut author Noah Charney enjoys a unique vantage point from which to spin his tale of art-world intrigue...Charney is a real-life version of his novel's hero Gabriel Coffin...A mixture of inside information on the art market and lively art history (including four actual lectures, all of them brilliantly devised) brings the novel very close to nonfiction territory.”
" engaging story, but the wrap-up was bewildering. "
" I found this book sort of disjointed and confusing. It switched story lines and and characters each chapter or sometimes within each chapter. They all come together at the end, but I stayed up late to read it and was tired as a result. I just couldn't follow the twisting plot. I'm still not sure who ended up with which painting. "
" the book was "meh", by the end I didn't really care who'd done it. "
" Books about art seem to be in vogue, and this one was better than average. It is about a complicated caper involving several different scenarios. At times it was a little hard to follow all of the various characters and locations, but I did enjoy the clever plot. "
" I especially appreciated all the background information about arts, art history and art forgery. I found it very helpful in understanding the fascinating world of painting. "
" Troppi investigatori per questo libro. Si salva la parte artistica, ma la trama non regge. "
" confusing. Loved the art history parts of the book. "
" Givin' it a chance. I bought it for $2 at the ARC, so I might as well. So far... ? "
" One of the worst books I have ever read. "
" I had trouble keeping everyone straight. It was clever. "
" Typically i like these books, but it really didn't keep my attention "
" This is a good read with an intriguing plot. Along the way you learn about art forgery and how art is authenticated. "
" A fun read--that's about it. "
" This was a great read, especially for someone with an art history background. "
" A little confusing trying to keep track of everything. I liked the description of the paintings. "
" I'm not sure how I would have wanted it to end, but I don't think that was it... a little too neat and contrived for me. I liked the first 75% of the book more. "
" A fun and interesting book. The last wrap up chapter was a little quick. "
" loved the art history but story was hard to follow, ultimately unsatisfying "
" This book was terrible. I only finished because I didn't have anything else to read. "
" Terrible. Hard to follow, fragmented, confusing, no sense of suspense. "
" i loved this wonderful pageturner of a novel in which Noah Charney puts his knowlegde of the world of arttheft, falsifications and if you think you know what the real painting or the forgery is : look again "
" Lots of good information about the art world and how art thieves work -- but a pretty weak, almost silly, plot. "
" A quick review: Fun and interesting plot, but some of the characters where quite flat and over the top. "
" fabulous, twisty-turny, along lines of Thom crown Affair "
" Art World mystery Was ok and i did glean a few facts from it dispite the insipid narrative. "
" learned a lot about art especially paintings already and like the humor shown so far by the characters. book kept me guessing all the way through and was very informative a bout paintings, different artists as well as the different aspects of painting itself. "
" listened to this on CDs; excellent accents but story was confusing, stopped listening but tried to finish the actual book - never did figure out who did what. "
" A clever novel, fast paced, well written, some good insights into visual art a good ending. Some intense descriptions of dark places, that works well. But not a great read. "
" Changing it up from Vampires and Virals to Caravaggios.... "
" Obviously not smart enough for this book. I never really got to like any of the characters, am pretty confused by the ending, and too irritated at the foul language to backtrack and try to figure out what the heck happened. Apparently I'm just not hip and edgy enough for this one. "
" Terrible book. I just wanted it to end so I could stop reading it. The only surprise or intrigue in this book was that I actually finished it. "
" complicated art thefts end up being connected - difficult to follow as mystery. "
" I loved all the bits of art lessons in this book. I wish I had had an instructor in college just like Professor Borrows. I hope to see more from this writer! "
Jennifer Dixon is a retired board-certified music therapist, licensed counselor, and veteran of the Michigan Opera and several community theaters, that has explored the power of words and music to motivate, inspire, provoke, soothe, and heal-all of which she brings to her work as an audiobook narrator. Even though she was born within the sound of Bow Bells in London England (now residing in the beautiful state of Michigan), Jennifer has a “proper old-fashioned BBC sound, with American overtones,” but can conjure up her cockney side if need be!
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.
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