Review of The Art Forger

         B.A Shapiro's The Art Forger was an interesting and racing novel filled with mystery,  a bit of romance and secrets. The Art Forger focuses on the heist of 1990 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The painting at the center of this book is After the Bath V by Degas, which is a fictional piece of art created by Shapiro. The main character, Claire, is persuaded to complete a forgery of  After the Bath, which was stolen in the heist. Accepting this proposal leads to a whirlwind of uncovered secrets about the Degas painting stolen on the morning of March 18,1990. Although the story told by Shapiro was interesting and somewhat surprising, it lacked the action and thriller we expected. The story starts off rather slow paced and gets wordy at some points, and most of the action doesn't start until the middle/end of the book. Shapiro's style of writing was very sophisticated, but also easy to understand and follow. Overall, the book was fun to read because it followed the life of a troubled, and struggling copyist who got stuck in a sticky situation. Also the rush of finding out what happened to the real Degas painting helps the get the reader involved in the story. This novel leaves readers wanting to know what happens next.