Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: Feint of Art - 1st in the Annie Kincaid mystery series
Author: Hailey Lind
Publisher: Signet Mystery (Penguin Group)
ISBN: 0-4512-1699-7
Release Date: January 2006
Genre/Sub-genre: Mystery
Year/Setting: Present Day - San Franscisco and Bay area
Overall rating: 5.0
Sexual content rating: None
Violent content rating: Minimal
Language (Profanity) content rating: Mild
Hailey's Website:
www.haileylind.com
Hmm...how to present this review. It’s been a dilemma for me since there’s so very much going on in Feint of Art. Don’t want to give too much away, you know.
You do need to know that Annie Kincaid is an expert, thanks to her Grandfather, when it comes to forgeries. Painting them and authenticating or debunking them. And once she confirms that a new acquisition for a museum is a forgery, things really start to happen--poor Annie. And many of them happen after she’s met, and when she’s with or had been with, supposed P.I., Michael X. Johnson, the "X-man", who suspiciously pops up at some of the most suspect and inconvenient times. And leaves at the most inconvenient times.
Not only will you discover on the ride with Annie forgery galore, but murder, missing persons (are any of them in on the scheme or are they victims?), breaking and entering (and not just once either), arson and chases and kidnapping and a slew of suspects.
Got your attention? Good, because this is one book that makes you pay attention to every clue in order to try and figure out who the perps are and what they’re after and why.
Annie’s very likeable and with her gung-ho (sort of, well most of the time) attitude towards finding the authentic art pieces and putting together the pieces of an ever growing puzzle it’s hard not to find yourself dogging her footsteps in an effort to help figure things out.
The question was, do I read slowly to make it last longer or read it straight through with only pit stop breaks? I chose to savor this book like fine creamy chocolate. Sort of. I tried anyway. Think of someone giving you a piece of your favorite chocolate and saying don’t bite it, just let it melt – yeah, right. That’s what happened to me. Once I sunk my teeth into it and took a bite there was no going back. :-}
Written by anyone else, I believe the aspects of art and art forgery fed to the reader would have been mind-boggling. But the way Hailey Lind presents it is convincing and understandable and highly entertaining. The information is integrated seamlessly into the story through Annie’s words and thoughts. There’s no talking down to us readers who are unacquainted with the world of art. We come away from the book with a clearer picture (no pun intended) of the art world through a great cast of characters (the bad and the good) and intriguing mystery and of course, Hailey Lind’s firsthand knowledge.
Feint of Art is full of action and wit, not to mention clues and dead ends and dead ends and clues. Readers are in for a treat with this extremely well-written debut. Several enjoyable hours will be spent with this thrilling foray into the art world.
Connie
Question or comment regarding the review or the book? Click here and let Connie know.
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