Mark Eugene Dall

Artifice Mark Eugene Dall

Author Mark Eugene Dall paints a vivid picture of murder, mayhem, and mystery in Artifice, a fast-paced thriller focused on an enigmatic painting attributed to Rembrandt.

In pre-World War II Paris, twelve-year-old Jacob Stein falls in love with a three-hundred-year-old painting named Girl with Cat. His wealthy father buys it for him as a bar mitzvah present, his act kindling a love of art that eventually results in Jacob growing up to become a successful art dealer.

During the occupation of Paris, Jacob is murdered by Nazis-and his collection confiscated-when he steadfastly refuses to transfer his property to the Third Reich.

Over sixty years later, Daniel Stein, Jacob's grandson, eventually discovers the painting up for sale at an auction house. His claims that the painting was stolen all those years ago fall on deaf ears as the anonymous seller offering the painting for $50 million absconds with the work before anyone can examine it.

Daniel finds an ally in a young art professor and they engage in a frantic chase across the Atlantic with both crooked art dealers and mobsters in pursuit of not only the painting but its provenance as well.