Diversion Publishing, September 13, 2016.
Three Stars
As this novel begins, Katie Novis has just renounced
her former identity and is now Paire Anjou. It is a ridiculous name, but
perfectly suits her new persona and her ambition to become an artist in New
York City. She has left behind her unhappy past and her dysfunctional, criminal
parents to pursue a future with her up and coming artist boyfriend, Derek
Rosewood.
On her way to Derek’s showing at the Fern Gallery, Paire
stops outside to admire a striking painting of an empress dressed in red, staring
defiantly out at the viewer. Beside her is a man who is staring at the empress
and sobbing – before Paire has a chance to react, he pulls out a letter opener
and stabs himself in the chest. This is her first introduction to the painting
that will change her life.
The painting is the last known work of a Chinese
dissident artist named Qi. When Paire is offered a job at the Fern Gallery, she
witnesses the vast crowds of people who swarm to the gallery to see the
painting that inspired the suicide – and Paire becomes obsessed with the
painting as well. Meanwhile, her life veers towards her family’s criminal past
as Derek introduces her to his world of illegal, Banksy-style public art
installations. As their crimes escalate, Paire and Derek plan an ambitious heist
of the empress painting, but their harmless prank goes terribly wrong.
When the painting disappears completely, Paire is led
down a dangerous path into the backstory of Qi, his family, and his artistic
career. Her journey leads to bribery, death threats and eventually a gruesome
murder. Although it takes a while for the story to coalesce, it eventually
becomes more complex than I expected. In the first half, the characters are
one-dimensional, but they gradually become more real and interesting. Paire is
somewhat sympathetic, but often frustrating and unlikeable – there was a lot of
angst about her past that should have been explained early on instead of being
dragged out throughout the novel.
You definitely don’t need to be an art expert to enjoy
this novel, although a rudimentary understanding of the art world may help you
get more out of it, especially the technical details and historical aspects. I
wouldn’t call this a thriller, but it is certainly action-packed, and it kept
me reading despite the flawed characters. While it started out slow, it quickly
got more interesting and I’m glad I stuck with it until the shocking end.
I received this novel from Diversion Publishing and
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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