2008-04-14 The Author Certainly Knows About Art

Noah Charney was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1979. After graduating, he moved to London, where he studied at the Courtauld Institute and received a Masters for his work on seventeenth century sculpture in Rome. During this year he also, for fun, wrote his first novel, The Art Thief. He subsequently received a second Masters at Cambridge University, and began a PhD. As you can see from the above information the author certainly has the qualifications to write a novel involving the art world.

This book is a really interesting and well written first novel, particularly if you have an interest in art and traveling. The plot involves the theft of two famous paintings, one in Rome, the other in Paris. The theft of these two paintings seems to start an epidemic of art thefts throughout Europe. The author has obviously done his homework as regards the European art world and the book moves along at a fair old pace, so much so that it is almost a travelogue of Europe.

I really enjoyed the book. It was like a breath of fresh air to get away from the save the world in twenty minutes brigade and read a well structured novel with strong characters and an entertaining and enjoyable backdrop of art galleries, museums and auction houses in some of the most beautiful cities in the world. The author's love of his subject shines through the pages like a beacon and his enthusiasm automatically rubs off on the reader. This is one of the few books that I have read recently, where I was sorry when it ended. However after a debut novel such as this, I am sure there will be more from the author.