- Hardcover: 294 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction (April 8 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0060187794
- ISBN-13: 978-0060187798
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 Kg
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
The most amazing thing about this enjoyable new thriller by the author of the much-praised Thief of Light is that it exists at all. David Ramus was a top New York City art dealer who got into big trouble because of drug use and escalating debts in a dying art market. His first book was written to pay back his creditors; this one, his second, was written in a Federal prison where Ramus was serving a year's sentence for interstate transportation of stolen art. "The constant friction of human contact, the noise and dirt and the simple fact that there is no such thing as a comfortable chair in prison makes it incredibly difficult to sit down with your thoughts and ideas and turn them into meaningful words on a page," he says. In spite of this, The Gravity of Shadows is a smoothly written, carefully plotted story about a desperate New York art dealer, Wil Sumner, who takes a job appraising a private collection in his old home town of Palm Beach, Florida. Scandal, corruption, wayward sex, and murder are some of the things that Sumner finds hiding behind the priceless pictures. --Dick Adler
From Publishers Weekly
Like a brakeless jalopy that slowly tops a hill then careens out of control on its way down, Ramus's gripping second novel starts slowly, but once it picks up speed, all you can do is hang on for the ride. Down-on-his-luck art dealer Wil Sumner gets the chance of a lifetime when reclusive millionaire Andrew Stevenson asks him to appraise his rare collection of drawings for potential sale. But the job is not without its complications: Stevenson's lawyer is against the sale, and the collection contains a sorely tempting, uncatalogued Velasquez notebook, which could put Sumner on easy street. And when an attacker invades the house and demands to be handed a set of secret files, Sumner?who knew Stevenson and his seductive daughter M.K. when he was growing up on the wrong side of the Palm Beach tracks?ends up in the middle of a long list of betrayal and murder. As in his previous novel, Thief of Light, former art dealer Ramus packs the story with credible art world details; in this novel he also manages to create an unpredictable plot and a believable hero. Sumner is not one of those latent supermen who turns into Rambo when the chips are down. He blunders into crises without thinking, and while he may want to be the white knight in a damsel-in-distress story, he has neither the armor nor the weaponry for the job?which makes his struggle to redeem himself (and resist the temptation of that uncatalogued notebook) all the more interesting. U.K. and translation rights: Aaron Priest Agency.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon.ca
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent thriller with historical and artistic contexts, Dec 11 2001
By "mila7" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Gravity of Shadows: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
This is an extremely enjoyable thriller, the kind that makes you not want to put it down. Although the main protagonist, Wil, is not very likable and it's difficult to sympathize with him, the story is propelled by the evil deeds that he faces and the desire to unravel the mystery. I liked how David Ramus put to use his knowledge of art and art history. It was enough for a layman to comprehend and to keep it interesting, but was not overdone. My favorite aspect was how historical deeds, during the Spanish Civil War, were brought forward into the present day. Reminiscent, for example, of the movie "Marathon Man." David Ramus is a very good writer and I highly recommend this book. It's about time it was added to the US Amazon web page!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Books by David Ramus, Aug 13 2000
By Robert F. Dennis - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Gravity of Shadows: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
I just finished "Gravity of Shadows". I have now read all three of David's books and ALL are wonderfully written and very suspenseful. I knew David in his other life and had no idea he was such a fine writer or even a writer at all. I cannot wait for his fourth. I hope there will be one and I wish him well.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Maureen Frusha Boutwell: Totally absorbing, July 13 1998
By MOANBO@AOL.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Gravity of Shadows: A Novel (Hardcover)
Read Thief of Light. Loved it. Knew his next book was on the way. Worth the wait. Compelling and frightening. One would had to have lived this to write so convincingly. Looking forward to his next book.
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
