The Lost Van Gogh

I just finished The Lost Van Gogh by Jonathan Santlofer and here is my review.

Alexis is a huge art lover and likes to buy portraits. When she brings the portrait home, she doesn't know someone else is looking for it. When her partner Luke realizes that the painting has another painting underneath, their minds are blown when they realize it's a Van Gogh. It's not a painting ever seen before and looks like it's the last self portrait he ever did.
They need to have it authenticated but on the way Alexis is attacked and the painting stolen. They can't let it go which leads to Luke reaching out to Smith, an ex- interpol agent turned PI. The chase gets more heated the second they leave US soil. Finding the painting is more dangerous than any of them realized.

I loved this book. I am a huge art person and reading about the underground art world.... Fascinating!! There was a heck of a lot going on. We jump back to the past pretty infrequently giving us the backstory of how the painting ended up being covered and how it made it out of nazi germany and to the USA. It also gives us a little glimpse into Van Gogh's last moments.

What didn't I like? Well, sometimes it was a little hard to see who's POV it was because it didn't say at the start of the chapter. That's a huge pet peeve. I shouldn't have to guess. You want multiple POV fine but refrain from using I for one person then the name when it's their POV. I got confused a few times. Not cool.

That's my only gripe. The action was great, the pace was excellent. I loved the characters. Smith was my favorite. I can't help it, he was brilliant. I loved that Alex's dad is an art thief and he was right in the thick of it. It was all very exciting and I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. I don't usually mention covers of books but this cover is perfect.

There were so many excellent details in the book and it was very well researched.

4.5 stars (just the POV lost that half star)

Thank you @sourcebooks and @netgalley for my gifted copies (ebook and paperback)

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