Every Sunday we are taking a look at the world of books. I read a lot and always want to share my opinions on what I read, so I thought it would be fun to write reviews. Today we are looking at a fiction book based in New York about art and conning people…

Veridian Sterling Fakes It (2024)

Jennifer Gooch Hummer

Synopsis

In this colorful and humorous tale, a hopeful young painter finds herself embroiled in the world of art heists…and possibly responsible for the counterfeits needed to cover them up. Freshly graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, Veridian Sterling is ready to hang her work in any of the countless New York galleries that are sure to give her a show.

The problem is only one will, and they’re not interested in her art so much as her personal assistant skills. No glitz, no glam, and definitely none of the money she needs to help her struggling mother finally realize her dream of starting her own business after having sacrificed everything for Veri to go to art school.

So when she overhears her new boss discussing the impressive finder’s fee for a lost Van Gogh, Veri takes matters into her own hands.

Maybe her own artwork isn’t celebrated, but she knows how to copy what is, and maybe those skills can help lead to a discovery. But when a famous art dealer takes her under his wing (and his charming driver takes her interest), Veri realizes she’s in deeper than she expected, and quite possibly with the wrong people.

With her mother’s dreams and her own future at stake, Veri will have to pull out every trick she can think of to wipe her canvas clean and erase the mess she’s created before she goes down for someone else’s crimes

– from W H SMith

Positive Points

If you are looking for a book that is escapism and a good story then you may want to take a glance at this book. It is a book that once you get into it the narrative is interesting and develops quote well. By the time that you get to the end of the story, it makes you want another book to see how it turns out.

Negative Points

Initially, I wasn’t sure I was going to stick with this book as it takes a while to get going. At times it feels quite patchy and you have to be patient and try to stay reading to get to a good result.

Overall Review

For a book that I got free with Amazon First Reads it is one of the better ones that I have read. It is a story that is interesting but it can be frustrating initially and you have to really push through to get to the good parts of the book.

Rating : *** 3 Stars