The Art Thief

By Noah Charney

($14.00, Simon & Schuster)



If you appreciate art history, this book will saturate you with it. If you don't, read it anyway but skip the italics in the second chapter--there's more information than you'll require to enjoy this mystery.

The author is a consultant on art crime prevention and solution with a master's degree in art history who takes us inside the world of the art thief, art historians, and art museums. He explores the history of the paintings in his novel, along with an interesting theme: "Never do what you cannot undo." Permeating the book are complex clues to decipher--Biblical, mathematical and artful.

But are these legitimate paintings that he writes about? Was there an artist named Malevich who painted "White on White"? And why would anyone buy such a painting?

The novel's reference to an arts student "with an inordinate amount of time on his hands" particularly amused me, as I was just wondering if Mr. Charney had "an inordinate amount of time on his hands" to launch all the possibilities in his book. Still, this was a book worth reading...for anyone with enough time on his (or her) hands.

Mary Burns is the owner of The BookWORKS, located at 1510 Third Street, downtown Marysville, 360.659.4997, or online at www.marysvillebookworks.com. Comments or requests are welcome at [email protected].