Two old letters reveal the existence of an unknown Van Gogh painting. Only four individuals have ever seen the work, all now dead. One deceased man, an alcoholic thief, claimed to have smuggled the painting out of France at the beginning of World War Two. His two sons dedicate themselves to finding the Van Gogh, seeking personal redemption for their father and damaged childhoods.Valued at $250 … at $250 million, the painting attracts an unseen hired killer, three unscrupulous collectors, and the Russian mob. One brother undertakes the search for the painting, accompanied by a beautiful ex-KGB assassin as his bodyguard. Together, their quest takes them from New York to Los Angeles, from Paris to Amsterdam as murders pile up around them. Welcome to the high-end art world, secret deals, and billionaires willing to go to any length to get their hands on the last Van Gogh.
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The Last Van Gogh by Will Ottinger is a well-written standalone novel that is a combination of historical fiction (late 19th century and 1930’s) and mystery/suspense in contemporary times.
The story takes us on a trip to Holland, Austria, France, Chicago, New York City and California. Of course the late 19th century part of the story deals with Van Gogh himself. In contemporary times, two old letters allude to the existence of an unknown Van Gogh painting; one that is much larger than his normal paintings and could be worth a fortune. The letters were from a con-man to his sons; one of which is an alcoholic and the other a struggling galley owner. Of course the alcoholic talks about the painting and several people are seeking the potential prize. Who can the brothers trust? Does the painting exist? If it once existed, was it successfully smuggled out of Europe and to the United States? With assassins, a former KGB agent, con-men and mafia types involved, who will even survive the search?
I originally thought this story was going to be a thriller. To me, it was more of a mystery and suspense story. However, that did not detract from a great concept with wonderful character development and plenty of plot twists and turns. The pace picked up speed as the book progressed building to a climax. During Van Gogh’s lifetime, he suffered from mental illness and was considered a failure as an artist by many. This comes through in the historical fiction part of the story as well as much more.
What more could a reader ask for? This was a mystery with a historical element that kept me turning the pages.
Many thanks to Black Rose Writing, Will Ottinger and Net Galley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
A life sized painting from the master Vincent Van Gogh painted while he was ill. A race to smuggle the painting out of Austria before the Nazis get her. A hundred years or so from when the painting was created two American brothers find out their dad willed the paying to them. The race was on to find the painting.
This is a storyline created to show events over time with many interesting characters involved. Not familiar with the art world a lot of the names of artist were unknown to me making it a bit of a hard read. The story itself is well developed and interesting. The value of human lives verses a masterpiece was explored. The intrinsic beauty of the art and life like quality stirred the men who saw the painting revealing just how much creativity and artistic genius can create emotions in us. The value of this painting was measured not only in money but in human life. The question remains for me is any object worth killing for? Overall, I found a lot of the topics I gleaned from this book to be intriguing and caused me to reflect on my own value system. For this reason I gave it a high rating.
4 stars
I read the Kindle edition.
This is a very good novel with an interesting premise. A one-of-a-kind original Van Gogh is smuggled out of Paris at the height of the Nazi occupation by a good friend of the current owner.
The two sons of the just deceased elderly man who assisted in the “liberation” of the Van Gogh locate two letters written by their father. They go on an extensive search for the missing painting.
When knowledge of the painting becomes more or less public, the brothers’ search soon attracts all kinds of ne’er-do-wells that follow the brothers and try to get to the painting first. They all want the prize that may well be worth an estimated 250 million dollars. They seek the painting all over the globe.
This is a very well written and plotted novel that starts out a little slowly, but builds over time. The story holds the reader’s interest with action and if you like searches for “lost” treasures, this book is for you. I was disappointed that Mr. Ottinger made the one brother an alcoholic. I was put off by that as I was married to one of those. I liked the art gallery owner. He seemed vary long suffering, but somewhat intolerant, of his wayward brother. This is my first Will Ottinger book, and I immediately went to Amazon to look for others of his novels.
I want to thank NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.