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kleonard's review
1.0
This book begins with one of the most appalling examples of ableism I have ever read, in which the narrator states that a man who has lost his hands and possibly suffers language-related brain damage is simply better off dead. Revolting.
ruined_elegance's review
2.0
I always feel bad rating books low, but two stars means it was okay, which is exactly how I feel about The Forgers. It is well written and paints a beautiful setting, but that's about it. The plot was basic and predictable, it mainly felt like a soliloquy of his addiction to forgery. It was a good book, just not my cup of tea.
dee9401's review
2.0
I'm always one for good book porn, but sadly there wasn't enough in this one for me. I don't like unreliable narrators and also found the narrator to be snobby and arrogant. I can like heroes and antiheroes, but there has to be something to like or admire (secretly, perhaps). The characters were never fully developed for me to know them. They were more cardboard cutouts, especially the sole female character.
In this genre, I prefer Arturo Pérez-Reverte's The Club Dumas and The Flanders Panel.
In this genre, I prefer Arturo Pérez-Reverte's The Club Dumas and The Flanders Panel.
carolpk's review
4.0
The Forgers could be a quick read as it is only 258 pages. Do yourself a favor and take your time; savor the imagery and the beauty of the language in this expertly paced, literary thriller.
A brutal beginning could put some readers off. "They never found his hands." we are told in the opening line. Adam Diehl, a player in the rare book circle is found, in his apartment amongst the chaos of bloody, vandalized manuscripts, his severed hands missing, holding on to life by a thread. If you have survived this you'll be in for a descriptive ride in the world of rare book publishing and its seamy side, the art of forgery. Adam's sister Meghan is beside herself with grief. Our narrator Will, Meghan's boyfriend, a self described "hanky-panky" man, once arrested for forgery is a suspect right from the beginning. But there are others who very well might have done the deed. Adam himself is so well illustrated that I could pick him out in a crowd. I immediately like him, and share Meghan's sense of profound loss. I want the killer brought to justice.
I am quickly caught up in Will's world, his art form. I can see how easily I could be duped. Will is egotistical, arrogant in his craft and yet he fascinates me. When Will must give up forgery for the honest world of rare book buying, when he can no longer sell, I am routing for him and for his relationship with Meghan to thrive.
The Forgers is a seductive read, one which is certain to lure you in.
My sincere thanks to Mysterious Press and Edelweiss for providing the e-galley of The Forgers which will be published November 4th.
A brutal beginning could put some readers off. "They never found his hands." we are told in the opening line. Adam Diehl, a player in the rare book circle is found, in his apartment amongst the chaos of bloody, vandalized manuscripts, his severed hands missing, holding on to life by a thread. If you have survived this you'll be in for a descriptive ride in the world of rare book publishing and its seamy side, the art of forgery. Adam's sister Meghan is beside herself with grief. Our narrator Will, Meghan's boyfriend, a self described "hanky-panky" man, once arrested for forgery is a suspect right from the beginning. But there are others who very well might have done the deed. Adam himself is so well illustrated that I could pick him out in a crowd. I immediately like him, and share Meghan's sense of profound loss. I want the killer brought to justice.
I am quickly caught up in Will's world, his art form. I can see how easily I could be duped. Will is egotistical, arrogant in his craft and yet he fascinates me. When Will must give up forgery for the honest world of rare book buying, when he can no longer sell, I am routing for him and for his relationship with Meghan to thrive.
The Forgers is a seductive read, one which is certain to lure you in.
My sincere thanks to Mysterious Press and Edelweiss for providing the e-galley of The Forgers which will be published November 4th.
lispeartree's review against another edition
2.0
Me ha decepcionado. Está muy bien escrito (la traducción de Julia Osuna al español es magnífica), pero la historia es previsible y no me enganchó demasiado.
mwgerard's review
4.0
Please read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/accent-the-forgers-by-bradford-morrow/
lesliewatwar's review
2.0
Great beginning, good ending with a twist, the middle though was lacking excitement.
karieh13's review
4.0
This book grabbed me from the first sentence. “They never found his hands.” After that – I practically inhaled this book – reading it on one day.
I am a reluctant fan of unreliable/anonymous narrators. It’s a tricky plot device to pull off – so when it is done well (as it is here) – it adds to the reader’s interest. When not done well – those are books that make me roll my eyes. In “The Forgers” – the only once named narrator is very unreliable yet the reader believes enough of what s/he is being told to be all in and to root against those who wish him harm. This character refers to himself as a “shadow man” several times – adding to the intrigue. “Usually endearments – none of which need to be listed here, as we are all guilt of the same maudlin sobriquets – dislodged my given name from our conversation, which was fine by me. Shadow men never like being called by name…”
Our narrator is a forger. Mostly, supposedly, reformed. This story takes place with his legal troubles in the past – and with a different scandal, the murder of his girlfriend Meghan’s brother (he of the forever missing hands) just having been discovered.
The reader is never really able to get an authentic sense of our protagonist. At times – he is very bitter about not being able to create his art – and the reader is sure he will lapse back into forging inscriptions and letters by famous authors. That he can’t keep saying no to the yearnings that call him to put pen to ink.
“…I incarcerated the word permanent because I think it is one of the most fraudulent words in the English language, and signifies an incontestable falsehood. Another part, however, suspected the letters and that unpublished manuscript fragment were simply too good to be true – much like the idea of permanence…”
At times, we are told and feel, the great love he has for Meghan – and it seems she will be enough of an incentive for him to stay the path of the straight and narrow. We do see him lie to her – but only at times that seem warranted by the increasingly disturbing circumstances that surround him.
“It takes a lot of truth to tell a lie. Truth must surround the pulsing heart of any lie for it to be convincing, believable. A pack of lives, like a house made from a pack of cards, will never remain standing. But a gracefully designed construction built on both visible and underlying truths had every chance of passing muster, of passing the test of time.”
Yet his life always circles around the temptation to forge. To “improve” rare books, to “add to” the history surrounding great authors and immortal literature. To put his mark, in his way, on history. And he meets another “shadow man” – who proves a great danger to his carefully scripted life. “We both were forgers as well as forgeries – we pretended to be real men, sophisticated, educated, entrepreneurial gentlemen, men who got away with what we set our minds to get away with. But as much as it pained me to admit it to myself, we were only the shadows of men of true substance.”
In this element of his character, I was constantly reminded of Humbert Humbert. A man who considers himself far above the rest, of refined tastes and of high intelligence...who just beneath the surface is one driven by the basest of instincts. A character the reader knows he or she should not like – but who captures the interest and refuses to let go.
The main character of “The Forgers” is himself a forgery – and remains so after he claims to have turned his life around. Just what details of his life turn out to be fake – are startling to say the least…and had me almost turn right back to “They never found his hands.”
I am a reluctant fan of unreliable/anonymous narrators. It’s a tricky plot device to pull off – so when it is done well (as it is here) – it adds to the reader’s interest. When not done well – those are books that make me roll my eyes. In “The Forgers” – the only once named narrator is very unreliable yet the reader believes enough of what s/he is being told to be all in and to root against those who wish him harm. This character refers to himself as a “shadow man” several times – adding to the intrigue. “Usually endearments – none of which need to be listed here, as we are all guilt of the same maudlin sobriquets – dislodged my given name from our conversation, which was fine by me. Shadow men never like being called by name…”
Our narrator is a forger. Mostly, supposedly, reformed. This story takes place with his legal troubles in the past – and with a different scandal, the murder of his girlfriend Meghan’s brother (he of the forever missing hands) just having been discovered.
The reader is never really able to get an authentic sense of our protagonist. At times – he is very bitter about not being able to create his art – and the reader is sure he will lapse back into forging inscriptions and letters by famous authors. That he can’t keep saying no to the yearnings that call him to put pen to ink.
“…I incarcerated the word permanent because I think it is one of the most fraudulent words in the English language, and signifies an incontestable falsehood. Another part, however, suspected the letters and that unpublished manuscript fragment were simply too good to be true – much like the idea of permanence…”
At times, we are told and feel, the great love he has for Meghan – and it seems she will be enough of an incentive for him to stay the path of the straight and narrow. We do see him lie to her – but only at times that seem warranted by the increasingly disturbing circumstances that surround him.
“It takes a lot of truth to tell a lie. Truth must surround the pulsing heart of any lie for it to be convincing, believable. A pack of lives, like a house made from a pack of cards, will never remain standing. But a gracefully designed construction built on both visible and underlying truths had every chance of passing muster, of passing the test of time.”
Yet his life always circles around the temptation to forge. To “improve” rare books, to “add to” the history surrounding great authors and immortal literature. To put his mark, in his way, on history. And he meets another “shadow man” – who proves a great danger to his carefully scripted life. “We both were forgers as well as forgeries – we pretended to be real men, sophisticated, educated, entrepreneurial gentlemen, men who got away with what we set our minds to get away with. But as much as it pained me to admit it to myself, we were only the shadows of men of true substance.”
In this element of his character, I was constantly reminded of Humbert Humbert. A man who considers himself far above the rest, of refined tastes and of high intelligence...who just beneath the surface is one driven by the basest of instincts. A character the reader knows he or she should not like – but who captures the interest and refuses to let go.
The main character of “The Forgers” is himself a forgery – and remains so after he claims to have turned his life around. Just what details of his life turn out to be fake – are startling to say the least…and had me almost turn right back to “They never found his hands.”
mhoffrob's review
4.0
The Forgers by Brad Morrow had echos of Patricia Highsmith and Raymond Chandler, to the point I began to think of it as set in a much earlier decade, though no time was established in the narrative. The first person point of view, the slow building tension, the imperfect protagonist ~~ well written and completely engrossing.