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2.73 AVERAGE
2.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Two paintings and three locations are the center of an art heist that baffles the police and museums alike as they race together to find the answers.
In Rome a Caravaggio is stolen from a church, in Paris a Malavich painting goes missing, and in London a newly acquired Malavich by the National Gallery is taken just after it is purchased at auction. The concern that is in front of investigators in Paris and London is whether or not the two Malavich's that have been stolen are the same or if they are forgeries. Seeing the Caravaggio is the art investigator Gabriel Coffin, while Jean-Jacques Bizot hunts down for clues in Paris, and from Scotland Yard Harry Wickenden investigates for the National Gallery. Throw in the curators of museums and it is quite a party of people attempting to find paintings and continuing to stumble across fakes or dead ends. While this novel had the potential to be a full thriller that left twists and turns across cities, it was anything but such a thrilling adventure. First, it is obvious that the author is vicariously living through the character of Coffin, or at least exemplifying a person he would like to be through this character, who isn't even that great of a character. Coffin is pretentious, predictable, and a bit of an arse. Bizot could have been interesting, but the constant degradation of his intelligence, while also making him seem like a slave to food, was just less than desired in an inspector. And while I enjoyed Wickenden perhaps the most out of all the characters, I still feel like he didn't get enough as well (nor his wife the credit she deserved for being the brains of the outfit!). Each character, at the end of it all, was a cookie-cutter, over-exemplified personification of a stereotype. The bumbling inspector who doesn't figure it out, the suave art thief who tricks them all, and the sleek woman who plays the damsel but was behind it all anyway since she is someone's lover, it was all horrible in its two-dimensional way of portraying people. These characters had no depth or imagination and that in turn reflects upon the author once again as it seems this is all just a fantasy of his, spewed upon the page where it cannot be in real life.
Shame, I'm sure I would have liked this novel a lot more if it was better written and if it had characters who were not something out of some low-budget Hollywood movie. Eh, maybe someone else would like the cheesy nature of this novel, I just failed to find any entertainment in it.
In Rome a Caravaggio is stolen from a church, in Paris a Malavich painting goes missing, and in London a newly acquired Malavich by the National Gallery is taken just after it is purchased at auction. The concern that is in front of investigators in Paris and London is whether or not the two Malavich's that have been stolen are the same or if they are forgeries. Seeing the Caravaggio is the art investigator Gabriel Coffin, while Jean-Jacques Bizot hunts down for clues in Paris, and from Scotland Yard Harry Wickenden investigates for the National Gallery. Throw in the curators of museums and it is quite a party of people attempting to find paintings and continuing to stumble across fakes or dead ends. While this novel had the potential to be a full thriller that left twists and turns across cities, it was anything but such a thrilling adventure. First, it is obvious that the author is vicariously living through the character of Coffin, or at least exemplifying a person he would like to be through this character, who isn't even that great of a character. Coffin is pretentious, predictable, and a bit of an arse. Bizot could have been interesting, but the constant degradation of his intelligence, while also making him seem like a slave to food, was just less than desired in an inspector. And while I enjoyed Wickenden perhaps the most out of all the characters, I still feel like he didn't get enough as well (nor his wife the credit she deserved for being the brains of the outfit!). Each character, at the end of it all, was a cookie-cutter, over-exemplified personification of a stereotype. The bumbling inspector who doesn't figure it out, the suave art thief who tricks them all, and the sleek woman who plays the damsel but was behind it all anyway since she is someone's lover, it was all horrible in its two-dimensional way of portraying people. These characters had no depth or imagination and that in turn reflects upon the author once again as it seems this is all just a fantasy of his, spewed upon the page where it cannot be in real life.
Shame, I'm sure I would have liked this novel a lot more if it was better written and if it had characters who were not something out of some low-budget Hollywood movie. Eh, maybe someone else would like the cheesy nature of this novel, I just failed to find any entertainment in it.
I was very interested in this book at first because I loved the small art history lessons embedded into the book. They were very interesting.
However, I think the plot is very "chit chatty," constantly bouncing back and forth between a giant pool of characters going on and on about seemingly pointless details or scenes. I wanted to like this book so bad, but I just couldn't finish it..
However, I think the plot is very "chit chatty," constantly bouncing back and forth between a giant pool of characters going on and on about seemingly pointless details or scenes. I wanted to like this book so bad, but I just couldn't finish it..
Enjoyed hearing a take on some art heists and the twists and turns. Not well written, and not enough character development, but the art aspect was enjoyable!
adventurous
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A convoluted mystery set in the European art world. Read my full review at:
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2016/02/fiction-review-art-thief.html
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2016/02/fiction-review-art-thief.html
fast-paced
An interesting plot, but so convoluted that it prevented me from getting into the groove of reading the book. All the plot pieces were resolved in the end, but I didn't feel satisfaction as I closed the book because there were too many facts kept hidden along the way. No satisfaction in this read.
A popcorn book, but that's okay. It was fun and fluffy. Loved the references to art and artists.
Een beetje een vreemde misdaadroman, van een jong talent. Charney is nog geen dertig en putte inspiratie voor deze roman over kunstdiefstal uit zijn eigen leven als kunsthistoricus en mede-oprichter van een denktank die zich bezighoudt met kunstmisdaden (studie en preventie). Dat leidt tot heel wat erudiete passages die volgestouwd zijn met kunsthistorische feiten en weetjes, een beetje à la The Da Vinci Code, maar vreemd genoeg valt dit moeilijk te verenigen met heel wat andere aspecten. Zo zijn er veel te veel personages, zijn de dialogen soms ronduit zwak en krijgen al te veel passages een karikaturale sfeer die moeilijk verenigbaar is met het sérieux en de ultracomplexe plot van het boek.