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"August, 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincent Peruggia. Exactly what happens in the two years before its recovery is a mystery. Many replicas of the Mona Lisa exist, and more than one historian has wondered if the painting now in the Louvre is a fake, switched in 1911. Present day: art professor Luke Perrone digs for the truth behind his most famous ancestor: Peruggia. His search attracts an Interpol detective with something to prove and an unfamiliar but curiously helpful woman. Soon, Luke tumbles deep into the world of art and forgery, a land of obsession and danger. A gripping novel exploring the 1911 theft and the present underbelly of the art world, The Last Mona Lisa is a suspenseful tale, tapping into our universal fascination with da Vinci's enigma, why people are driven to possess certain works of art, and our fascination with the authentic and the fake"--Book Synopsis
Oh, what a web Jonathan Santlofer weaves...The Last Mona Lisa brings together past and present, seasons it with intriguing characters, and brushes it with plot twists that you don't see coming to create an unstoppable what-happens-next momentum. Santlofer has outdone himself this time.--Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller series
August, 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen by Vincent Peruggia. Exactly what happens in the two years before its recovery is a mystery. Many replicas of the Mona Lisa exist, and more than one historian has wondered if the painting now returned to the Louvre is a fake, switched in 1911.
Present day: Art professor Luke Perrone digs for the truth behind his most famous ancestor: Peruggia. His search attracts an Interpol detective with something to prove and an unfamiliar but curiously helpful woman. Soon, Luke tumbles deep into the world of art and forgery, a land of obsession and danger.
A gripping novel exploring the Mona Lisa's very real theft in 1911 and the present underbelly of the art world, The Last Mona Lisa is a suspenseful tale, tapping into our universal fascination with da Vinci's enigma, why people are driven to possess certain works of art, and our fascination with the authentic and the fake.
Review Quotes
A deliciously tense read that mixes a present day hunt for the truth with a real-life historical heist to page-turning effect! - Ruth Ware, #1 NYT best selling author of One By One
Astonishingly, Jonathan Santlofer is a brilliant writer of fiction and nonfiction--and a superb visual artist as well. All his skills come together in The Last Mona Lisa, and the result is wholly satisfying. - Lawrence Block, bestselling author of more than 50 novels, including Eight Million Ways to Die and A Walk Among the Tombstones
It's hard to imagine another writer who could pull off a feat like The Last Mona Lisa, with its combination of thrills, history, and insider knowledge of the art world. A singular achievement by a terrific writer. Really stunning. - Laura Lippman, New York Times best selling author
A riveting novel, weaving the real-life 1911 theft of Leonardo's masterpiece into a nail-biting contemporary drama where billionaire collectors, art historians, book collectors and Interpol engage in so many double and triple crosses you're left wondering until the last page whom to trust and whom to fear. The Last Mona Lisa is like a master class in how to create a deep understanding of art history while making a seamless thriller. - Sara Paretsky, New York Times bestselling author of the V.I, Warshawski series
Fabulous--instantly immersive, intriguing and suspenseful, and expert and authentic too ... only a writer who is also an artist--or an artist who is also a writer--could have pulled it off. This feels like the thriller Santlofer was born to write. - Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series
From its seductive first pages, The Last Mona Lisa carries us along on an utterly irresistible time-jumping, continent-leaping tale of intrigue and family secrets, obsession and the ineffable power of art itself. I could not put it down. - Megan Abbott, bestselling and award-winning author of Give Me Your Hand and The Turnout
Oh, what a web Jonathan Santlofer weaves in this un-put-downable book! The Last Mona Lisa brings together past and present, seasons it with intriguing characters, and brushes it with plot twists that you don't see coming to create an unstoppable what-happens-next momentum. Santlofer has outdone himself this time. - Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller series
The Last Mona Lisa is a pacy, seductive international thriller of the first order. With its seamless blend of action, intriguing maze of family secrets, and the gripping, emotional journal entries of a long-dead art thief, this is a transporting novel, made all the more captivating because of the true story at its heart. Don't miss it! - Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45
This is a terrific read - compelling, intelligent, fascinating and deeply satisfying. It was a book I did not want to end. - Peter James, #1 bestselling crime thriller author