The Last Judgement

Life's Too Short

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Publisher's Summary

In an exchange of favors with an art dealer colleague, Jonathan Argyll unluckily offers to transport a painting from Paris back to Rome. It seems routine work, and Jonathan gets to meet his girlfriend, Flavia, who works for Rome's Art Theft Squad.But when a would-be thief tries to take the painting at the train station, and the art dealer seems less interested in his purchase once he sees it, Jonathan wonders why, as events unfold, someone is willing to kill for it. With customary wit and panache, Jonathan and Flavia embark on a breathless chase to capture a killer who has been refining his own particular art for many years.

©1993 Iain Pears (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

 

 

It is so much easier to write about the books you hate!

 

A few weeks ago I read The Raphael Affair by Iain Pears. It was enjoyable but nothing to write home about. The other day, I picked up another book in the series, The Last Judgement. It was DNF within 15 minutes -- just as soon as a supposedly intelligent man falls for one of the oldest cons in the book and lets a stranger watch his bags, which include a purchase (i.e., not his property) that he is delivering to buyer on behalf of a gallery owner while he goes off to buy cigarettes. The stupidity of the whole set-up so utterly pissed me off that I quit reading before the chase was even underway. I don't care how amazing the rest of the story is supposed to be.I lost interest in pursuing it. DNF!

 

I soothed away the hurt with a nice Ngaio Marsh.