Customer Reviews

The Lost Van Gogh

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Lost Van Gogh by A.J. Zerries is a book fueled by action and intrigue. Its many twists and turns keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat, and the themes that run through it promise to keep anyone interested. Whether readers want an inside look at the world of art dealing, the workings of the NYPD, the hunt for Nazis in the years since World War II, or the human condition in general, they will find themselves anxiously turning page after page.
Readers can also count on being drawn in by the book's extremely well-developed characters, particularly those of Detective Clay Ryder and Dr. Rachel Meredith. A.J Zerries writes in such a way that readers get to know the characters from the very beginning and develop a strong attachment to them before they're even aware of it.
The Zerries' book is artfully written, well-researched, and is not to be missed. Five stars!

"The Lost Van Gogh" is a true "page turner." I hate to use the vernacular of book reviewers, but it truly is. Imagine reading a book that takes you on a rollercoaster of a ride that involves the NYPD, Nazi war criminals, the Mosad, crooked art auction houses and the Japanese mafia. Even the best Imagineers over at Disney couldn't dream up such an exciting ride. This should be the beach book of the summer. Bottom line, if you enjoyed Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons (like I did), you will LOVE "The Lost Van Gogh"!!!

It's been a long time since I've read a book this smart, engaging and boldly written. Not only does A.J. Zerries pull off one of the more thrilling mysteries in recent memory, they do so with a deftness that rivals or exceeds most of their contemporary counterparts. After their masterful opening -- a great study in suspense -- we meet Clay Ryder, one of the least respected cops in the NYPD. Moreover, he's still reeling from the recent death of his wife, along with an unenviable family history. Getting inside Ryder's head, in my opinion, is where Zerries absolutely shines. The past that Ryder has tried so hard to shelve is only brought screaming back when van Gogh's lost Trabuc shows up at the Met. As his investigation progresses, and obsession with the painting's history grows, the rich parallels that rise between his dubious grandfather and the brutal Nazi, Udo Luscher, are starkly comprable. Zerries has clearly stumbled upon dramatic gold with Ryder's character. In addition, the pace and action are crisp, the dialogue and supporting characters authentic. I can't wait to see what these two put out next -- hurry up, A.J., I'm impatiently waiting!!!

During the Holocaust, many great works of art owned by Jewish people was stolen by the Nazis, depriving the victims of the Holocaust and their heirs of not just wealth, but family heritage and history as well. Nazi plundered art has wreaked havoc in the art world in recent years, leading museums and galleries and innocent buyers to return work they never knew was stolen.

Many Nazi escaped from Germany before the Allies secured the war torn country, and Argentina was the destination of many. In The Lost Van Gogh, a recently published detective novel by AJ Zerries, the husband and wife writing team Al and Jean Zerries, looted art finances the escape and post war life of Udo Luscher, a sadistic Gestapo chief whose cruel torture of Jews made Himmler's boy.

When a lost Van Gogh painting is delivered to the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan by UPS, the case is handed to Clay Ryder, the former Navy SEAL turned cop known as the Art Guy. His special domain is stolen art, and it is his job to track down the rightful owner of the plundered painting. The appearance of the Van Gogh leads to a scramble within the world's art and organized crime. When the Mossad, Israel's infamous intelligence service, arrives on the scene, the stage is set for an intense roller coaster ride of mayhem.

In Detective Clay Rider, the Zerries' have created a worthy character endowed with both the physical and intellectual qualities to join Laura Joh Roland's Sano Ichiro and Sharon Kay Penman's Justin de Quincy, investigators and heroes both. Emotionally, Ryder is a mess, another important attribute of the successful modern hero. Plagued by the ghost of his wife, Ryder knows no camaraderie with his fellow detectives in the Major Case Squad, who see him as distracted and defective, in other words dangerous.

The Lost Van Gogh combines good story telling with endearing characters, frightening villains, gunfire and explosions, and a kidnapping and wicked chase. In other words, it has everything you need for a few hours of summer entertainment. Don't be surprised to see The Lost Van Gogh on the big screen, and certainly it would be much better product than the much ballyhooed and more boring Da Vinci Code.

This novel was so interesting and exciting that I could hardly put it down. Full of history as well as modern day NY tales, it leaves you wanting more. I enjoyed the international aspect of the story and the constant suspense.
The only downfall is that half of the husband-wife writing team that authored the book is no longer around to publish more. (He sadly passed earlier this year.) Now I am searching for a similar book to tackle.

First Sentence: Neither of the two men trusted the other, but that, after all, was the nature of the business.

NYPD Detective Clay Ryder is the force's art expert. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art receives a long-lost Van Gogh via UPS from Argentina, its Ryder's case to find out where it came from and to whom it belongs. Israel's Mossad wants Ryder to help them find the SS officer they believe sold the painting from Paris during the war. The rightful heir, Rachael Meredith, officially unveils the painting to the Met and finds herself besieged with people wanting the painting. Things turn violent when Rachael refuses to part with the painting.

The action was good, the characters of Clay and Rachael were interesting and I always like learning something when I read. In this case it was the looting of art by the Nazis. But then, the story changed tacks and became more about Rachael, art dealers and auction houses. While that was also interesting, it felt as though there were one too many story lines for me. It was exciting and suspenseful, but could have used a bit more focus. This was not a "wow" read, but it was a really good summer or airplane read. (EBMRG Selection)

This book was absolutely one of the best novels of suspense I have ever read, and believe me, I am a heck of a reader. I bought the paperback so I just finished it.
I personally went to the A.J. Zerries' (husband/wife authors) website and sent them an email of approval for a story that imprisoned me as a page turner from the 1st page. They were kind enough to respond. Great information on Art Theft during WWII. Read carefully, because the passage of time between chapters can be weeks or even months.
It truly deserves a screen writer.. Could the director be Spielberg??

The Lost Van Gogh by A.J. Zerries

The Lost Van Gogh, the inaugural work of husband/wife writing team A.J. Zerries, [ISBN 0765312506, May 2006, St. Martin's Press] is the latest in a series of adventure/mysteries which take place in the middle and latter part of the 20th century. This cosmopolitan thriller novel set in New York City, Long Island, Maine, Paris and Argentina provides us with the insider's view of the world of contemporary art collectors, dealers and famous museums.
A latter day Columbo, New York City Police Department Major Case Squad Detective Clay Ryder, former Navy SEAL, Ivy League educated art enthusiast, and a former employee of a highly regarded art dealer helps to solve several Upper West Side B & E's, a socialite's murder, and the delivery of a $50 million lost Van Gogh portrait to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Along the way, we learn the ins and outs of police procedure and politics as Ryder traces the Van Gogh painting's provenance, delving into the wholesale theft of artwork by the Nazis during their occupation of many countries in Europe during the waning months of World War II. Detective Ryder assists the Met with reuniting the painting of Monsieur Trabuc with the sole surviving heir of the original Holocaust-era owner, Dr. Rachel Preminger Meredith, an NYU professor of film studies at the Tisch School of the Arts.
The Met hastily mounts a striking exhibit entitled "The Empty Frame", which evokes the presence of looted artwork which have not been returned to the rightful owners or heirs while highlighting the return of Meredith's prize Grand Master. Action accelerates once the Van Gogh takes its place on the wall of the Merediths' Greenwich Village apartment and the professor refuses to sell it to any of the gallery directors pounding their way to her door. When Ryder investigates a series of events that befall the beautiful professor and her family, he uncovers the decades-long trail of a Nazi officer and others who will stop at nothing, including murder, to regain ownership of the Van Gogh masterpiece. Mossad agents, New York detectives, Maine policemen all combine forces to hunt down the master Nazi criminal in a breath-taking sequence of chases.
This is a first fiction work from the Zerries, but hopefully, not the last! Although it isn't The Da Vinci Code, for those who like art and culture, travel, intrigue and history all entwined with romance and social commentary, this is a great reading choice for a long daily commute or for a lakeside read this summer.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art curators are stunned when a lost $50 million van Gogh Portrait of Monsieur Trabuc arrives in an ordinary UPS package delivered from Argentina. NYPD Major Case Squad Detective Clay Ryder specializes in art theft, so is assigned the investigation.

He learns that in 1944 Paris, a Jewish widow accused a German SS officer of stealing her family's van Gogh painting. However, the officer apparently died soon after the complaint was lodged in a car accident; the painting vanished. Ryder traces the offspring of the widow, which leads to NYU Professor Rachel Meredith. The MOMA does the right thing restoring ownership to Rachel in a gala that attains international reporting. However, soon afterward someone attacks Rachel, who turns to Clay for safety even as Israeli Mossad operatives see the painting as the first step in capturing an SS officer who has been underground for decades.

This terrific thriller that is at its best during Clay's initial investigation as readers obtain a strong police procedural and insight into Nazi art looting. The tale remains suspense filled fun as it spins into the search for the Nazi and the assaults on Rachel. However having both leaves the former a bit shortchanged and unneeded. Still THE LOST VAN GOGH is quite a find for thriller readers.

Harriet Klausner

This story has an incredible premise. The plot line is phenomenal. The problem with it is that the writing is verbose and overblown. If it had been well edited it would have been a page turner. As it is now after wading through the overdone verbiage to an unsatisfactory conclusion I wanted to fling the book when I finished it. In fact if the premise had not been so good I might very well not have finished reading it at all. Some of the situations seemed a bit far fetched as they do in Dan Brown novels but Dan Brown makes the suspense of belief more palatable.