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The Art Forger

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The Art Forger

By: B. A. Shapiro
Narrated by: Xe Sands
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About this listen

On March 18, 1990, thirteen works of art, today worth over $500 million, were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It remains the largest unsolved art heist in history, and Claire Roth, a struggling young artist, is about to discover that there's more to this crime than meets the eye.

Making a living reproducing famous artworks for a popular online retailer and desperate to improve her situation, Claire is lured into a Faustian bargain with Aiden Markel, a powerful gallery owner. She agrees to forge a painting - a Degas masterpiece stolen from the Gardner Museum - in exchange for a one-woman show in his renowned gallery. But when that very same long-missing Degas painting is delivered to Claire's studio, she begins to suspect that it may itself be a forgery.

Her desperate search for the truth leads Claire into a labyrinth of deceit where secrets hidden since the late 19th century may be the only evidence that can now save her life.

©2012 Barbara Shapiro (P)2012 HighBridge Company Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Crime Robbery

Critic Reviews

"A clever, twisty novel about art, authenticity, love, and betrayal. B. A. Shapiro knows about Degas, and she knows about art theft and forgery, and she also knows how to tell a gripping story." (Tom Perrotta)
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What a great voice to tell this story into several different parts of the art community. Highly recommended for anyone interested in art and oil painting.

Beautiful and gripping

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The author came up with a highly entertaining and captivating fiction based on the biggest unresolved art heist in history.
The voice and style of a narrator is always controversial and a big problem for audiobooks. It's so personal. You can't satisfy everyone.
I liked it a lot.

Great story and narration

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Interesting tale, well told. I am not an artist but I enjoyed the art references.

Enjoyed it enough that I listened twice

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loved it and would highly recommend to other readers. it was an interesting outlook on the art world

great read

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The storyline and research into art restoration made the story believable. Could not put the book down.

Loved the book

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Do ALL the Boston art community speak in a languid drawl?
And if you’re going to forge a French accent, try to get the important names straight! Francoise ends in -se: she was a woman.

Narration is a bad forgery

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