Jonas Kalem is the ringleader. Owner of art galleries in London, New York and Paris, and larger than life, he begins to amass his team to put the escapade in play. Kalem’s appetite is legendary…for food, wealth, fame. And he has dropped hints in the art world that he will eventually bring some unknown DaVinci works to market.

He begins by contacting Curtis Stiehl, a resident of the New Jersey prison system. Curtis is doing hard time for counterfeiting, but the government never found the engraving plates. Kalem had purchased Curtis’ house when he was convicted, and found the plates. Upon his release, he appeals to Curtis first as an artist, then with a job offer, and finally as the blackmailing holder of the found plates.

Curtis is to spend six months in Europe studying some DaVinci sketches in order to master his writing and drawing techniques under the supervision of Giorgio Burri, a DaVinci expert. He will then begin creating sketches of material that DaVinci might have had an interest in doing.

Tony Waters, sophisticated thug, is Kalem’s assistant and will be the intermediary between Stiehl and Burri, and, further he will see to the “borrowing” of some DaVinci sketches from the Royal Library.

The last critical player is an unknowing and naďve American chemist Eleanor Shephard. Eleanor has seen the glass ceiling at the FDA and knows she will never rise to be its head. She is thus easily lured by Kalem to take a job in Europe to analyze ancient paper and ink and trace their origins. This puts her in place to source 500 year old paper and charcoal.

The heist from the library garners the sketch, but Waters runs into unexpected trouble resulting in the death of an undercover Scotland Yard operative. This event draws Inspector John Oxby, the CID Art and Antiquities squad into the equation and the hunt is on.

Putting talented and bright people together in a criminal plot when everyone is not on equal footing is always a risk. Additionally, Kalem underestimates the power of the attraction between Eleanor and Curtis. These factors combined with Inspector Oxby’s relentless quest for answers brings into focus the eventual dishonor among thieves theme.

Swan is trying to do too many things in this book. The plot, although basically simple, is complicated by subplots. The amount of text devoted to the results of the research make this book a primer for forgery. Adding these elements to the story weigh it down to the point that the tension is unsustainable and, in many places, missing.

Additionally, it is hard to develop well as many characters as inhabit this book. Much of the story is told in the immediate past tense, adding another layer of distance. However, Swan does offer a well-researched book with an interesting plot line.

--Thea Davis