The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece: An Edgar Award Winner
4/5
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About this ebook
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 Scream. 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.
The Rescue Artist 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.
Edward Dolnick
Edward Dolnick is the author of Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, The Writing of the Gods, The Clockwork Universe, The Forger’s Spell, and the Edgar Award–winning The Rescue Artist, among other books. A former chief science writer at The Boston Globe, he has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times Magazine, and many other publications. He lives with his wife near Washington, DC.
Read more from Edward Dolnick
The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, & the Birth of the Modern World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for The Rescue Artist
27 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5#2020unreadshelfproject. A great read. A intimate look into the world of art theft and long road to recovering the works. So much interesting information packed into the book. Charley Hill has a truly great job. A lot of different thefts and recoveries are mentioned which keeps the book moving. I skimmed over a few parts, but the majority held my interest.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A most fascinating story!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is not just about one art theft (The Scream by Munch), but about the career, personality and job session of one of Scotland Yard's (now retired) art squad detectives. Well written.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A very good account of the theft of Munch's "The Scream" in 1994, which branches out into an exploration of art heists and a semi-biography of investigator Charley Hill. Well worth a read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Interesting information and very nice writing style.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a entertaining detective story. The author is a fabulous and entertaining writer.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5For some reason the main point that sticks out for me is that Dolnick is seriously in love with Charley Hill (the leading man) - or at least severely idolizes him. Dolnick does go off on quite a few tangents about other cases, which are also very interesting, but distracting and just there to make the book longer than it needed to be.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All about how Edvard Munch's "The Scream" was stolen and subsequently recovered. The first chapter alone is like reading an episode of Keystone Kops. Talk about incompetence! Nonetheless, this is fascinating look into the world of art theft, which suprisingly enough often includes books stolen form the world's public libraries. I really think there should be a PBS Mystery series based on the art recovery team at Scotland Yard.