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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mystery in the art world, November 27, 2006
The author of Color Blind and The Death Artist has written another great thriller featuring cop-turned-art historian Kate McKinnon. Kate is recovering from the death of her husband Richard, re-shaping her life from the life of luxury they shared. She is working on a TV show and a book on the New York School of artists Pollack, de Kooning, Kline and Gorky. Their paintings are being slashed--in a museum, a law office, and in homes. One of her fiends has a Franz Kline that is slashed in his home, and is killed when he surprises the vandal. Then the murders begin. Gabrielle Hoffman, granddaughter of an artist and also a collector; the artist Beatrice Larsen, a collector, a museum curator.... Kate is asked to help the art squad, and later the FBI enter the picture to coordinate the investigations in different jurisdictions. An FBI-planted story in the press about stolen art works being fakes leads to the deaths of three more people and stalls the investigation--as they assume one of them was the slasher. The author has created some fascinating paintings that are the clues in the case, and are reproduced here. His thorough research is evident as is his talent for meshing historic characters with fictional artists. Armchair Interviews says: A thriller that would really appeal to art lovers.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT SUSPENSE FICTION ABOUT THE KILLING ART. I LOVE IT, June 22, 2006
History and fiction collide with deadly consequences in the third Kate McKinnon novel -- a story of bitter revenge, where the past invades the present and a decades-old secret proves fatal Kate McKinnon has lived many lives, from Queens cop to Manhattan socialite, television art historian, and the woman who helped the NYPD capture the Death Artist and the Color Blind killer. But that's the past. Now, devastated by the death of her husband, Kate is attempting to quietly rebuild her life as a single woman. Gone are the Park Avenue penthouse and designer clothes. Now it's a funky Chelsea loft, downtown fashion, and even a hip new haircut as Kate plunges back into her work -- writing a book about America's most celebrated artistic era, the New York School of the 1940s and '50s, a circle that included Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and Mark Rothko. But when a lunatic starts slashing the very paintings she is writing about -- along with their owners -- Kate is once again tapped by the NYPD. As she deciphers the evidence -- cryptic images that reveal both the paintings and the people who will be the next targets -- Kate is drawn into a world where art and art history provide lethal clues. The Killing Art is Jonathan Santlofer's most gripping and chilling story yet, but that isn't the only reason the novel is remarkable. The author, who is also an acclaimed artist, has created works of art just for the book that tantalize and challenge readers by using well-known symbols in innovative ways, allowing them to decode the clues along with Kate. A masterwork of both suspense fiction and art, The Killing Art will impress both thriller readers and art fans as the plot twists and turns toward a shocking climax.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
mystery lovers and art lovers will enjoy this one, May 20, 2006
I can't give this 5 stars because of some flaws in the writing, but the plot was so good and was enhanced by illustrations done by the author, who is also a painter, that I really enjoyed reading this for the story alone. The author also puts in a lot of information about a group of American 20th century painters known as the New York School, probably the best known is Willem de Kooning. His knowledge and research in this area was excellent and helped shape the story as well as get the reader interested in the paintings. The plot involves someone who is slashing famous paintings to ribbons (and people as well) and before each destruction/killing sends a composite painting that contains a clue as to where they will strike next. The author draws these composite pictures and puts them throughout the book, so that the reader can follow exactly what is going on. I think the author shows promise as a mystery writer, but he is weak in areas other than plot, which accounts for the 4 stars. The characters are not well developed and many are almost stereotypes (and that includes racial, ethnic, gender and political). They just don't come off as real people. In addition, the dialogue is pretty awful. You dont hear people actually talking the way a lot of these characters talk, and if you heard it on late night TV, you'd be grabbing the remote. He should pay more attention when he's outside his own field. For example, the psychiatrist almost made me think I needed to call one. In about five pages, he diagnoses the killer as being 1) a psychopath, and 2) paranoid schizophrenic, and 3) obsessive-compulsive. All three in one? The NYPD can't find this person? He must be wearing a sign the size of a bus. A lot of the conversation had me cringing. BUT--the story was just so good and so well plotted that I was willing to overlook things I ordinarily wouldn't. For the art and the art history alone, it's worth reading, and I did not guess who did it until the very end. Keep on going, Mr. Santlofer.
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