The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece (P.S.)
by Harper Perennial

	The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece (P.S.)
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Book Description

<p> In the predawn hours of a gloomy February day in 1994, two thieves entered the National Gallery in Oslo and made off with one of the world's most famous paintings, Edvard Munch's <i>Scream</i>. It was a brazen crime committed while the whole world was watching the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Baffled and humiliated, the Norwegian police turned to the one man they believed could help: a half English, half American undercover cop named Charley Hill, the world's greatest art detective. </p> <p> <i>The Rescue Artist</i> is a rollicking narrative that carries readers deep inside the art underworld -- and introduces them to a large and colorful cast of titled aristocrats, intrepid investigators, and thick-necked thugs. But most compelling of all is Charley Hill himself, a complicated mix of brilliance, foolhardiness, and charm whose hunt for a purloined treasure would either cap an illustrious career or be the fiasco that would haunt him forever. </p>

Reader Reviews

If the reader is interested in a fast pace and action, then this book will not satisfy. The basic story is not a lengthy one. The digressions into background matters provide useful peeks into assorted issues, such as thievery, forgery and the art world, but go on for too long and should have been condensed. I found myself impatient for the story to move forward. The sheer number of delays and digressions bordered on comical.