Thursday, October 24, 2019

Marked for Revenge: An Art Heist Thriller

Zelda Richardson has finally found a position with an art museum. She is a collections assistant for the Amstel Modern  in Amsterdam, but before she can adjust to a paying job, the museum is robbed of some of the American Modernist sketches and drawings. In Marked for Revenge: An Art Heist Thriller by Jennifer S. Alderson, the Amstel Modern is one of 15 museums robbed over a period of several weeks.  

A large clue is that all the stolen art is easily forged. Zelda stumbles on a Jackson Pollack sketch in her neighbor's apartment, and she is suddenly thrust into the high stakes world of forgeries and international gangs of art thieves. 

When Zelda finds her next door neighbor and artist Gabriella semi-conscious on the floor of her apartment, she knows Gabriella needs insulin and tries to help her. Before she knows it, someone strikes Zelda on the head and leaves her unconscious on the apartment floor. Days later she discovers Gabriella is missing and her apartment has been cleared out.

Zelda wakes up in a hospital, suffering a severe concussion and partial loss of memory. Although she recalls seeing the Pollack and a copy on an easel, the doctors believe these might be false memories caused by the concussion. The police are leery of her statement and even consider she might be part of the theft ring.

The thieves are a bold lot. They break in and escape using ingenious methods including paragliding and they leave behind a note that chastises the museums for their lack of security and they sign the notes Robber Hood. They imply they will return the works of art once the museums beef up their security. Not everyone believes this.

With the police looking suspiciously at Zelda and a known Croatian gangster threatening her, she teams up with art detective Vincent de Graaf on a mad dash through Luxembourg, Italy and Turkey to find the stolen art. 

Another fast paced mystery featuring intrepid Zelda Richardson.

For a review of Zelda's first adventure The Lover's Portrait, click here


Disclosure: I received this book from the author. 

2 comments:

JSA said...

Thanks for your interest in reading Marked for Revenge, Christine! I'm so glad you enjoyed the settings and story! Hope you're having a wonderful vacation.

Denise Kainrath said...

Ohhhh an art museum... that would be a fun place to work! Minus murders and stolen works, however.