The Art Forger

By: B. A. Shapiro

Narrated by: Xe Sands

Length: 10 hrs

Publisher's summary

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

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)

Good story, bad reader

I rarely write a review. In this instance, I found myself thinking about the review throughout the whole book. I downloaded this book on the recommendation of a friend who loved the written version. I found myself almost angry at the reader as she sounded so whiney and all the men in the book were dripping with sexy voices. Really? You think men sound like that? Ridiculous. Not real. I don't like to be mean about it, I know I couldn't do it, but these voices ruined it for me.

That being said, I did finish the book There was great information about art and artists and forgery. The story is just ok. The information is good. The reader is not. Read this book instead of listening to it.

The Art Forger- narration

Good story but the narrators voice was annoying. It often sounded whinny and too expressive. The story was good enough to tough it out, but I wished I had other options for the voice.

An eye opener for someone outside the art world

I loved this clever mystery set against the backdrop of the art world. I learned so much and enjoyed the experience. The plot twists kept me engaged right up to the end. Masterful!

Got tedious

Sadly, this book has leads of questionable character, that become tedious from the ridiculous path the story takes.

Entertaining.

Entertaining quick listen. Didn’t too much fancy the male voices feigned by the female narrator.

loved this book

loved this book... especially the last several chapters. As always, Xe Sands delivers a great performance.

Excellent listen

I love the interplay of non-fiction interwoven with a great story. Wonderful to listen to. This is my second Shapiro audible and I can't wait to go on to the next one! A great listen and well narrated!

Only for Scientific Art Lovers

To really appreciate this story you have to have a TECHNICAL understanding of art, plus be familiar with Degas, his paintings, and HOW he painted; His technique. All of these make up about 85% of this story. It's a 5 star rating if you are one of these people. I'm an art lover on how paintings look and what they mean, so the technical jargon had me totally zoning out. A LOT of technical jargon.

History and intrigue

I could not stop listening! The plot was intriguing and full of twists and turns. I liked the art theme and characters. The reader was fair. Voice changes to men sounded similar. I wanted to read the Muralist by Shapiro but it has the same reader, so will have to give it some time.

That voice cringy

The story is ok but the narrator is so hard to listen to I about fell asleep, half the time. Thank goodness I could put it on a faster speed. But it was still hard to listen to the story was fine. Nothing spectacular a good summer beach read and I emphasize the read. Lol