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Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne in this riveting middle-grade mystery thriller. When a young boy is discovered in Washington DC's National Gallery without any recollection of who he is, so begins a high-stakes race to unravel the greatest mystery of all: his identity.
As the stakes continue to rise, the boy must piece together the disjointed clues of his origins while using his limited knowledge to stop one of the greatest art frauds ever attempted. Digitally interactive, this breathtaking museum mystery offers QR codes woven throughout the book that bring renowned paintings to readers' fingertips.
Dan Brown meets Jason Bourne in this riveting middle-grade mystery thriller. When a young boy is discovered in Washington DC's National Gallery without any recollection of who he is, so begins a high-stakes race to unravel the greatest mystery of all: his identity.
As the stakes continue to rise, the boy must piece together the disjointed clues of his origins while using his limited knowledge to stop one of the greatest art frauds ever attempted. Digitally interactive, this breathtaking museum mystery offers QR codes woven throughout the book that bring renowned paintings to readers' fingertips.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
About the Author-
As a lawyer, Deron R. Hicks investigates mysteries for a living. He is also the author of several books for young readers, including The Van Gogh Deception,which is part of the Lost Art Mysteries series. He lives in Warm Springs, Georgia, with his wife and children. To learn more, visit deronhicks.com.
Reviews-
Starred review from June 15, 2017 Two kids race around a city on a wintry night, tangling with elite operatives and foiling a crime they don't understand. In contemporary Washington, D.C., an unidentified man tries to evade goons in a parking garage. A roughly-12-year-old boy sits on a bench in the National Gallery of Art, alone, struck with amnesia. (This amnesia's a plot device, not psychological realism.) Art--his name?--knows nothing about himself but everything about art history. Criminal mastermind Dorchek Palmer and his highly skilled covert criminal operatives will do anything to protect their sale of a forged van Gogh, including hacking and erasing security footage across the city--and kidnapping Art and 10-year-old Camille, Art's friend from emergency-placement foster care. Narrative perspective bounces among the kids, Dorchek, and Dorchek's team. The kids display plenty of ingenuity (spray your kidnapper's stun gun with a shaken can of Coke!), but they don't know Art's identity or what's going on. Readers, tantalizingly, know some things but not others: what's the spider that Dorchek seeks to destroy? Who is Art? Integrated QR codes allow readers with access to a device/smartphone to view artwork by van Gogh, Degas, and other artists at relevant moments. Art and Camille are white, as are most other characters. A suspenseful mystery romp with art appreciation and heartening trust in readers' intelligence. (map, author's note) (Mystery. 10-14)
COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
March 1, 2017
Gr 4-6-A nameless 12-year-old boy is found loitering in Washington's National Gallery of Art, with dissociative amnesia, the result of a trauma he can't recall. It also seems that he is on the run from a gang of covert criminal operatives led by a millionaire tech developer. Once he teams up with spunky redhead Camille, the daughter of his temporary guardian, the pieces start to fall into place. It turns out that the boy is the one person who can upend a scheme to sell a faked missing van Gogh painting to the gallery for $183 million. While trying to stay one step ahead of his pursuers, Art (the name is written in his jacket) and Camille also race to find the protagonist's art historian father, who has been feared murdered. Much of the narrative hinges on art history and forgery, as well as the seizure of European masterworks by the Nazis. Hicks integrates necessary details into the contemporary narrative. The book occasionally bogs down in meticulous descriptions of downtown DC geography, the history of the National Gallery, and seemingly endless chase scenes. While the art theft plot and historical context are sound, the idea that a group of successful international criminals could repeatedly be flummoxed by two plucky tweens reaches into absurdity. QR codes link to further information about paintings mentioned in the text. VERDICT A workmanlike chase plot spiced up with some art history, this is an additional purchase for middle grade collections.-Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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