Alexandra Connor

Any book combining centuries-old conspiracies, betrayal, secret documents, murder, and the art world is bound to elicit comparison with the dread Dan Brown and the unfortunate cover-art of the edition I read appeared to deliberately evoke that frenetically-pace ‘Da Vinci Code’ feeling.



But The Rembrandt secret is no Da Vinci Code, and artist and media personality Alex Connor is certainly no Dan Brown: for a start she can write, and write well with a wonderful flair for visual imagery. show more Secondly, her knowledgeable insights into the art world are factually accurate as well as fascinating.



What if Rembrandt had a son, and many of the incredibly valuable pictures credited to the master were in fact painted by his pupil, the relatively unknown son? What would that do to the prices of his work and how far would major players in the art world and beyond go to protect the value of their investment by hiding the truth? At what stage should the search for truth give way to economic necessity?



Connor presents a convincing scenario with believable reactions: The Rembrandt Secret can be enjoyed thoroughly with little or no suspension of disbelief – Dan and his disciples should take heed. show less

Fascinating subject matter hampered by an annoyingly jocular tone which trivialises the stories.

Each chapter is composed of themed anecdoes from the lives of great artists; there are puns and bad jokes (some of them mercifully obscure to a non-Brit), and the transitions between stories are baldly mechanical. The forced gaity is even more grating when discussing the artists who beat their wives and did other truly despicable things.

I wish this book's editor had sat down with Ms. Connor and show more told her that she didn't need to apologise for her subject matter or talk down to her reader. It's possible to write a popular history without assuming that your reader has a seventeen-second attention span and needs to be elbowed in the ribs every second paragraph.

For a good popular history, see Ricky Jay's "Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women," Tom Holland's "Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic," or Barbara Mertz' recently updated "Temples, Tombs, and Heiroglyphs." show less

Unfortunately, whilst I did eventually finish this and I have a number of Alex Connor's other books, I was not a fan of this particular book.

The story / plot takes much too long to get going, and the characters that walk across our pages too numerous that one wonders where they fit in - if at all. I found no empathy at all with any of the characters and the action taking place ignited no spark within me and I was left feeling unfulfilled. Upon reaching the end, finally, only to discover that show more this was not a stand alone book but one in a series.

I will not be pursuing any more in the series. show less

I started to read this book with a doubt it may be a fantasy - but not to be. It is definitely a page turner with intriguing dialogues and characters whom are not what they seem to be - foul playing for getting possession of a portrait of a murderer from the past... A psychotic, obsessed by the portrait and its sitter starts murdering women which seem to be unconnected and the race to save the last victim reveals the plot. I thought some scenes were out of logic and it did lost its steam in show more the end until what it promised to be a perfect psycho thriller show less