'A dark, powerfully written story'

`The gritty realism that has made Le Carré's spy novels so
intriguing to those who don't read genre fiction'

Under a searing Calabrian sky, detective Daniel Wright is
shown the world's most famous stolen painting - Caravaggio's Nativity. As a
Caravaggio lover and expert in art recovery, he is determined to rescue it
from the mafia bosses who use it as payment for drug deals and
assassinations. Risking his marriage, his career and his life, Daniel
defies his superiors and goes beyond the law with the help of Uffizi
Gallery curator Francesca Natali in a desperate bid to save the Caravaggio
before it is lost forever. But will he become the hero of the art
establishment, or has he dangerously underestimated its mafia underworld?

'Saving Caravaggio' is a thrilling story of intrigue and personal crusades,
that combines the dark atmosphere of Naples with a determined pursuit of
passion.

Under a searing Calabrian sky, detective Daniel Wright is shown the world's most famous stolen painting - "Caravaggio's Nativity". As a Caravaggio lover and expert in art recovery, he is determined to rescue it from the mafia bosses who use it as payment for drug deals and assassinations. Risking his marriage, his career and his life, Daniel defies his superiors and goes beyond the law with the help of Uffizi Gallery curator Francesca Natali in a desperate bid to save the Caravaggio before it is lost forever. But will he become the hero of the art establishment, or has he dangerously underestimated its mafia underworld? "Saving Caravaggio" is a thrilling story of intrigue and personal crusades, that combines the dark atmosphere of Naples with a determined pursuit of passion.

Neil Griffiths works in television and has previously written for Radio 4.
He lives in London. His previous novel 'Betrayal in Naples' was published
by Viking in 2003.

2008-04-10 A thriller with intellectual depth

This blew me away. A thriller with real depth about obsession and negotiation. But its overall timbre is mostly of shadow, chiaroscuro to use the artists' metaphor.
Art cop Daniel Wright recovers stolen paintings - he's one of the best at negotiating in the shadows to reclaim these works of art. His speciality is Caravaggio, and there is one long-missing canvas he saw for a few moments once, which now obsesses him. When he's sent to Italy to do some undercover work at the Uffizi, he seizes his chance to go after the painting, realising that it's more important to him than his failing relationship with his wife. He's helped towards that by meeting curator Francesca!
I'm not a fan of Caravaggio, finding him too dark, but the author does give us interesting insights into understanding why he was an artistic genius and worthy of such obsession and study.
The shafts of light through this dark novel are few and far between, the characterisation is brilliant and the side of Italy that we see is very different from that experienced by any tourist.