This could have been a good book - the subject matter was what made me want to read this, but the way it was written was dreadful.. The sentences were choppy, and short - it left no room for character development. Were I to rec'd. a book about someone trying to recover this stolen painting, I would direct them to the true story The Caravaggio Conspiracy by Peter Watson. This is a true story of Peter Watson going undercover to try to get the painting back. ( )

This blew me away. A thriller with real depth about obsession and negotiation. But its overall timbre is that of chiaroscuro ...
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. ( )