Synopses & Reviews
The definitive story of the greatest art theft in history.In a secret meeting in 1981, a low-level Boston thief gave career gangster Ralph Rossetti the tip of a lifetime: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was a big score waiting to happen. Though its collections included priceless artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and others, its security was cheap, mismanaged, and out of date. And now, it seemed, the whole Boston criminal underworld knew it.
Nearly a decade passed before the Museum museum was finally hit. But when it finally happened, the theft quickly became one of the most infamous art heists in history: thirteen works of art valued at up to $500 million, by some of the most famous artists in the world, were taken. The Boston FBI took control of the investigation, but twenty-five years later the case is still unsolved and the artwork is still missing.
Stephen Kurkjian, one of the top investigative reporters in the country, has been working this case for over nearly twenty years. In Master Thieves, he sheds new light on some of the Gardnerand#8217;s most abiding mysteries. Why would someone steal these paintings, only to leave them hidden for twenty-five years? And why, if one of the top crime bosses in the city knew about this score in 1981, did the theft happen in 1990? What happened in those intervening years? And what might all this have to do with Bostonand#8217;s notorious gang wars of the 1980s?
Kurkjianand#8217;s reporting is already responsible for some of the biggest breaks in this story, including a meticulous reconstruction of what happened at the Museum museum that fateful night. Now Master Thieves will reveal the identities of those he believes plotted the heist, the motive for the crime, and the details that the FBI has refused to discuss. Taking you on a journey deep into the gangs of Boston, Kurkjian emerges with the most complete and compelling version of this story ever told.
Review
"Engrossing real-life crime story.and#8221; and#151;
Kirkus Reviewsand#147;Steve Kurkjian is the best reporter in America.and#8221;and#151;Dick Lehr, co-author of Black Mass
and#147;A gripping, revelatory book. Master Thieves is not only a thrilling heist story but a feat of investigative reporting. The kind of book you can only write if youand#8217;ve lived with a story for 20 years.and#8221;and#151;Mitchell Zuckoff, author of 13 Hours and Frozen in Time
Review
and#147;More than just a summation of all thatand#8217;s publicly known about the caseand#151;from the thievesand#8217; false mustaches to the F.B.I.and#8217;s sting operationand#151;Kurkjianand#8217;s book is an impressive attempt to solve the crime by reconsidering the evidence...What makes Kurkjianand#8217;s book so gripping is [this]: an accomplished investigatorand#8217;s sense of open-minded humility.and#8221; and#151;
New York Times Book Review"Engrossing real-life crime story.and#8221; and#151;Kirkus Reviews
and#147;A new look at a legendary art heistand#133;[Kurkjian] draws on fresh evidence in Master Thieves to reveal his own chief suspect, tell the full story of the theft and perhaps hasten the missing worksand#8217; return.and#8221;and#151;The Washington Post
"A cast of characters that would make Martin Scorsese swoon in admiration. There are so many crime-world figures with their fingers in this story that the book is like a GoodFellas/The Departed double featureand#133;Kurkjian constructs a thrilling narrativeand#133;A great mystery story well told.and#8221;and#151;The Boston Globe
"Kurkjian, formerly of The Boston Globeand#151;and one of Boston's premier investigative reportersand#151;knows more about the Gardner robbery than anyone else, including the FBI. He covered it for years. And now he has put it all together in [Master Thieves]."and#151;The Lowell Sun
and#147;Whodunits are irresistible, partly because readers canand#8217;t wait to find out whether the theories they develop along the way jibe with the ultimate conclusion. Through that lens, and#145;Master Thievesand#8217; doesnand#8217;t deliver; the and#8217;whoand#8217; remains tantalizingly unclear. But thatand#8217;s OK, and even heightens the sense of criminal mastery.and#8221;and#151;Minneapolis Star Tribune
"If you want to go looking for the lost Gardner horde (and collect the $5-million reward the gallery offers for its return), there's no better place to start than the pages of Master Thieves. The museum (and the FBI) could use the help."and#151;Winnipeg Free Press
"Compellingand#133;It is a journey that takes [Kurkjian] deep into the world of the Mafia and a cast of characters so colourful they could have come from a Martin Scorsese screenplay."and#151;The Telegraph
and#147;Steve Kurkjian is the best reporter in America.and#8221;and#151;Dick Lehr, co-author of Black Mass
and#147;In Master Thieves, master reporter Steve Kurkjian tackles one of the worldand#8217;s great unsolved mysteriesand#151;the 1990 Gardner Museum art heist in Bostonand#151;and leaves the reader feeling like heand#8217;s cracked the case. This book has the grit and intelligence of a lifelong gangster and the high tension of a midnight caper.and#8221; and#151;Ben Bradlee Jr., author of The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams
and#147;A gripping, revelatory book. Master Thieves is not only a thrilling heist story but a feat of investigative reporting. The kind of book you can only write if youand#8217;ve lived with a story for 20 years.and#8221;and#151;Mitchell Zuckoff, author of 13 Hours and Frozen in Time
Synopsis
In a secret meeting in 1981, a master thief named Louis Royce gave career gangster Ralph Rossetti the tip of a lifetime. As a kid, Royce had visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made a habit of sneaking in at night to find a good place to sleep. He knew the Museum's security was lax, and he gave this information to a boss of the Boston criminal underworld.
It took years before the Museum was hit. But when it finally happened, it quickly became one of the most infamous art heists in history: 13 works of art valued at up to $500 millionandmdash;including Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee." The identity of the thieves were a mystery, the paintings were never found.
What happened in those intervening years? Which Boston crew landed the big score? And why, more than 20 years later, did the FBI issue a press conference stating that they knew who had pulled off the heist and what had happened to the artwork, but provided no identities and scant details?
These mysteries are the story of Kurkjian's revealing book. The best and longest-tenured reporter on this case, and one of the most decorated investigative reporters in America, Kurkjian will reveal the identities of this who plotted the heist, the motive for the crime, and the details that the FBI refused to reveal. He will take the reader deep into the Boston mob, and paint the most complete and compelling picture of this story ever told.
About the Author
Stephen Kurkjian is one of the most acclaimed investigative reporters in the country. A veteran of the
Boston Globe, he is the paper's former Washington Bureau Chief and a founding member of its investigative Spotlight Team. Kurkjian has won more than 25 national and regional awards including the Pulitzer Prize on three occasions. He is a graduate of Suffolk Law School and lives in Boston.