The Art Thief is an entertaining, relatively brief look into a series of art crimes that pretty much defied convention. The author does a really wonderful job of creating a sense of ambiguity around the thief. Are we meant to think he’s reckless? A genius? A narcissist? A list?

It is truly wild story told in chapters short enough to catalogue his crimes in a more narrative way. This book departs from a conventional true crime novel in that comparatively little is given by way of the crimes of other art thieves or about the investigation and trial. They are certainly present in the book, just in far lesser amounts than the story.