What they're saying about The Lost Van Gogh:
- Nelson DeMille: "A fascinating look into the world of stolen art, The Lost Van Gogh, with its intricate and well-researched plot, will keep you engrossed and intrigued until the last page. A.J. Zerries uses a deft touch to create a tense and clever story that rises high above the usual art-theft caper. This one will leave you breathless."
- Jeffery Deaver: "A great roller coaster of a thriller. The Lost Van Gogh is a masterful blend of suspense and police procedural, with a touch of history brilliantly added to give the tale resonance. Bravo!"
- Marcia Muller: "The Lost Van Gogh is a stylish thriller that combines historical and contemporary intrigue with fascinating glimpses into the rarefied world of fine art. A most promising debut novel."
- Booklist (May 1, 2006): *STAR*Zerries, A. J. As the "Art Cop," NYPD detective Clay Ryder doesn't get much respect at headquarters. Not only does he appear to have a cushy beat, he's considered stuck-up, when, in reality, he is filled with remorse over the death of his wife. Not that he has time to brood once two priceless paintings are stolen from a Central Park penthouse, and a previously unknown van Gogh shows up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This smart, emotionally loaded, and strongly anchored art caper is the work of first-time wife and husband coauthors. Not only have the Zerries made powerful use of the always alluring stolen masterpiece motif, they have also cleverly, and affectingly, linked it to the Nazi pillaging of Jewish-owned art treasures, conjuring up an especially barbaric SS officer believed to have escaped to Argentina, the clever Mossad agents on his trail, and the heir to the van Gogh portrait, Rachel Meredith, a fetching and all-too-trusting film history professor. Great action sequences, complicated characters, swanky settings, dramatic betrayals, and intriguing art history make for a suspenseful and provocative tale about the perplexing union of beauty and evil. - Donna Seaman