The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece
Written by Edward Dolnick
Narrated by Sean Crisden
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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 listeners 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 Down the Great Unknown, The Forger’s Spell, and the Edgar Award-winning The Rescue Artist. A former chief science writer at the Boston Globe, he lives with his wife near Washington, D.C.
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Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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Reviews for The Rescue Artist
14 ratings4 reviews
- 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.
- 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 stars5/5Scandalous, hilarious and thrilling. Highly recommended for any fan of art and true crime.