In this thriller, the author brings his readers along with his protagonist Anna Petrescu on a chase around the world from New York during the tragic events of 9/11, to England, Romania, Hong Kong and Japan. The novel combines criminal conspiracy, a Van Gogh, a ruthless assassin, a Romanian art expert and Bryce Fenston an opportunistic and ruthless banker.

The story is quite exciting, slow at start but maintains a steady pace throughout. It opens with the prospective sale of an original Van Gogh and the timely murder of its owner, one of England's aristocrats Victoria Wentworth. At the same time, in New York, Bryce Fanston calmly awaits confirmation from his accomplice so he can foreclose on the assets of Victoria.

Missing and presume dead after 9/11 Anna an art expert and former employee with damaging information on Bryce uses the event to escape America and avenge Victoria's death. The mystery unfolds when Anna's suspicions attract the FBI and Interpol. Working together they discover the links and motives between the Van Gogh and Victoria's murder.

The novel gives us a bit of art history, also all kinds of twists and turns and heart stopping intrigues. Anna's ultimate determination had me riveted as I followed her to exotic locals around the world. Maybe the plot becomes implausible towards the end; Anna is way too clever and cool to be real, but she is smart and loveable. We have all the elements needed to make this a pager turner: vicious murders, a tab of romance, clever double crossing and a shocking ending.

Mr Archer is a great storyteller; I find it surprising to see so many reviewers disappointed with this novel. ( )

Anna Petrescu is the resident art expert for an unscrupulous bank which loans money at exorbitant interest rates in order to get their hands on various expensive artwork put up as collateral. She is also about to be fired for her recommendation that one of their clients sell her prized van Gogh to pay off her debt. Soon Anna finds herself involved in a string of murders, art thefts and double crosses as she attempts to sort out the mess - all with the FBI on her trail.

This is one of the few (the only?) novel I've read that is set during and amid the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th. And although I thought Archer's description of the attacks was largely well-done, that entire episode really didn't tie into the rest of the plot for me.

Once I got through the Sept. 11th section, things settled down to be more along the lines of a typical thriller. Anna is being trailed by a Romanian gymnast turned assassin and the ever-suspicious FBI. She hops through various cities always toting the bright-red case housing her stolen van Gogh. There wasn't much new here, but it was a decent action thriller quite suitable as a fast-paced beach read (though I would avoid reading it on an airplane...).

More at my blog. ( )

A smart and intriging murder mystery by Archer! The book takes place at the time of 9/11 and surrounds the rare and expensive painting of Van Gogh's Self Portrait (the one after he cut off his own ear). It takes place in NY, Bucharest, and Japan and involves double dealings, hired asassins, and tailing people form continent to continent. As someone who has taken graduate art history courses I enjoyed this book but one does not have to be an art expert (and I am far from one) to enjoy this book. He makes several smart jokes and references which break the mold of typical muder mysteries. You may know 'who dun it' but why and how it will turn out is the key. I liked it and would recommend it to people who like suspense and murder mysteries! ( )

Another page turner from Jeffrey Archer! I have long been a fan of Archer's writing style and this novel did not disappoint me. I look forward to my next one! ( )

A fast-paced page turner. ( )