Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A hair-raising, dark, and atmospheric thriller from the acclaimed author of the "ripping good" (The New York Times) novel Three Graves Full, inspired by the real-life unsolved theft of a seventeenth-century painting by a Dutch master. Twenty-eight seconds.
That's just enough time for a home security video camera to capture footage of fourteen-year-old Carly fending off an unexpected attack just inside her own front door. Armed with adrenaline and a few powerful, well-aimed kicks, the teenager emerges unscathed from the assault. But when the video of her escape is uploaded online, it goes viral. And among the millions of people who see it streaming across their screens are four desperate people whose lives will be forever changed by its existence.
Because the video also captures a sliver of a painting that for years has been hanging innocently in the entrance hall of Carly's house. Carly never paid it much attention, but her stepfather John has been living in fear that someone, somewhere will discover that he has possession of it. And when that day comes...his life will be worth less than nothing.
The painting--almost four hundred years old, painted by a master of the Dutch Golden Age--was stolen from a museum and has never been recovered. The secrets surrounding its theft will come back to haunt not only John, who's been forced to change his identity and hide in plain sight, but Roy, the down-on-his-luck grifter who ended up way over his head in the shakedown; Marcelline, the art dealer who tried and failed to execute that sale; and Owen, the double-crossed enforcer who knows too much about all the players in this dirty drama, and who renews the hunt to return the treasure to his billionaire patrons--even if he has to resort to murder to succeed.
In the end, it's Carly herself, naive and sheltered from a crime she knows nothing about, whose courage leads her to uncover the truth as the secrets and lies tear her family apart.
Synopsis
A brilliantly original thriller and "a startling, smart, vivid book" (Tana French, New York Times bestselling author) from the acclaimed author of Three Graves Full--inspired by the real-life unsolved theft of a seventeenth-century painting. Twenty-eight seconds.
In less than half a minute, a home-security camera captures the hidden resolve in fourteen-year-old Carly Liddell as she fends off a vicious attack just inside her own front door. The video of her heroic escape appears online and goes viral. As the view count climbs, the lives of four desperate people will be forever changed by what's just barely visible in the corner of the shot.
Carly's stepfather is spurred to protect his darkest secret: how a stolen painting--four hundred years old, by a master of the Dutch Golden Age--has come to hang in his suburban foyer. The art dealer, left for dead when the painting vanished, sees a chance to buy back her life. And the double-crossed enforcer renews the hunt to deliver the treasure to his billionaire patrons--even if he has to kill to succeed.
But it's Carly herself, hailed as a social-media hero, whose new perspective gives her the courage to uncover the truth as the secrets and lies tear her family apart.