Synopses & Reviews
Ten Years have passed since Kate McKinnon traded her NYPD badge for a lucrative career in the arts. But when a string of exquisitely ritualistic murders begins plaguing the New York art scene, Kate finds herself drawn back into the dark world of her past.
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“A rollercoaster. . .shows a sure sense of pace and an engaging literary style.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
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“An intellectual conundrum posed with visceral immediacy.” Slate
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“A crime novel that is savage and erudite, layered in wit, satire and psychosis--in short, a chilling read.” USA Today
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“Keep[s] readers guessing all the way up to the conclusion.” San Francisco Chronicle
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“Intriguing.” St. Petersburg Times
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“Fine portrait...evocative thriller.” People
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“THE DEATH ARTIST is stylish, scary and very, very smart. Jonathan Santlofers thriller really thrills.” Susan Isaacs
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“A keen eye for unsettling detail...Santlofer, himself an artist, has conjured up a vivid twist...” Kirkus Reviews
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“Spellbinding, sexy and savage.” Judd Tully, editor-at-large, Art and Auction Magazine
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“A high-class art opening...alternately brutal and dishy.” Publishers Weekly
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“A very original look at murder...a smart and sophisticated thriller.” Nelson DeMille
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“A juicy ride.” Book Street
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“Brisk....suspenseful....clever.” Washington Post Book World
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“THE DEATH ARTIST is a fast, fun read.” Phillip M. Margolin
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“An art history lesson from the dark side.” Marcia Tucker, Founding Director Emerita New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY
About the Author
Jonathan Santlofer was born in New York City and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree at Boston University. He returned to New York to earn his Master of Fine arts from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and supported his early painting career with several teaching jobs.
Santlofer has had over one hundred solo and group exhibitions including James Graham &Sons, NYC, The New Museum, NYC, The Drawing Center, NYC, Institute of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan, Galleria Peccolo, Livorno, Italy, Betsy Rosenfield and Klein galleries, Chicago, IL. His work is such permanent collections as the Institute of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Michigan, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana, as well numerous corporate and private collections.
Santlofer's major concerns -- reality versus illusion -- have remained constant throughout the evolution of his artwork. He was first known as an abstract painter, but after a gallery fire in Chicago destroyed five years of his work, he retreated to Rome where he spent time looking at Renaissance and Baroque art, drawing, and began to write fiction as a form of creative release. Almost five years after the fire, he returned to the art scene with figurative work -- a series of 100 carved and painted relief portraits of famous artists against detailed replicas of that particular artist's famous artwork. These fascinating hybrid pieces mixed not only painting and sculpture, but image and content.
In numerous articles and reviews over the course of his career, Santlofer's work has been described as "dramatic, supercharged, lush, and witty," Santlofer's work is "creating it's own synthesis of modernism, combining traces of Van Gogh, Matisse, Cubism, Futurism, and Expressionism." "Santlofer's work resonates and evokes feeling beyond what meets the viewer's eye."
Jonathan Santlofer is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Painting grants, a Skowhegan Scholarship, several Visiting Artist residencies at The Vermont Studio Center, Visiting Artist at the American Academy In Rome, and is a member of the board of directors of Yaddo, one of the countries oldest and most distinguished arts communities.