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A review by emeelee
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen
4.0
be gay, do crime
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Two young gay men--charming Nick and careful Clay--scheme to sell fake antiques to an odious millionaire, but the deeper they sink into the grift the more likely it becomes that they'll lose everything. I don't often read crime thrillers, but how could I resist a queer con set in Venice? The synopsis took me right back to my 11-year-old self's adoration of The Thief Lord. Venice itself is like a character in A Beautiful Crime, in all its glory and disrepair. The undercurrent of resident protests against tourist development runs throughout the book and eventually intersects with the plot in a tangible way.
TW: infidelity, cancer, death of a parent, AIDS-related death, rape
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Two young gay men--charming Nick and careful Clay--scheme to sell fake antiques to an odious millionaire, but the deeper they sink into the grift the more likely it becomes that they'll lose everything. I don't often read crime thrillers, but how could I resist a queer con set in Venice? The synopsis took me right back to my 11-year-old self's adoration of The Thief Lord. Venice itself is like a character in A Beautiful Crime, in all its glory and disrepair. The undercurrent of resident protests against tourist development runs throughout the book and eventually intersects with the plot in a tangible way.
The love of the city had killed its people. Quite simply, Venice had been visited to death.The motif of past vs. present is carried throughout the story; in the juxtaposition of art restoration and modern development, an ancient city that essentially functions like a theme park, old money and new wealth, the elder queer community and the Millennial gays. I really loved how nonchalantly queer this book is, without ignoring the struggles of both older and current LGBTQIA+ generations. There's also a heavy focus on wealth disparity and the faux-activism of the ultra wealthy.
Clay had grown up wary of people like the Wests; they were always desperate to save public parks by kicking out the people who actually needed them.While our amateur conmen are certainly not vigilante thieves, you also can't help but root for them to succeed in their scheme against a character that represents the worst sort of people: a hoarder of wealth who cares more for things than people. What really sold me on this story is how real it all feels-- the con is the sort of miracle opportunity that seems too good for even a reasonable person to pass up, and certainly not someone in dire straits, even though they aren't a professional criminal. Clay and Nick aren't skilled grifters, but their circumstances have given them enough to gain and not enough to lose to justify undertaking the risk of fraud in order to screw over an asshole and set themselves up for life.
These monsters, Nick thought, and at the same exact moment, These wonderful people.A Beautiful Crime is a slowly-plotted character study more than a thriller, but the stakes feel high and there is a creeping feeling of dread and an edge of mania. At one point I was too nervous to keep reading and had to put the book down for a couple of days to settle myself before continuing. But I'm definitely glad I read this-- even with a couple plot holes and an uncomfortable scene (see TW below) Christopher Bollen has delivered a lusciously-written novel filled with compelling characters and an interesting perspective on modern morality. 3.5 stars
TW: infidelity, cancer, death of a parent, AIDS-related death, rape