Links: Author's Website / Show Article /

Con artist Eduardo de Valfierno specializes in stealing invaluable paintings and selling them to his wealthy, greedy clients. Unfortunately for them, what they actually receive are expertly painted forgeries. The genuine masterpieces continue to hang in their museums. Yearning to end his career on a high note, Valfierno plans to steal the Mona Lisa, (La Joconde), paint and sell six forgeries, and then return it to the Louvre. Unfortunately, his plans unravel when a duped client is determined to kill him, a promotion-hungry inspector vows to retrieve the stolen masterpiece and a flood threatens to destroy Paris.

Product Description: What happens when you mix a Parisian street orphan, a hot-tempered Spanish forger, a beautiful American pickpocket, an unloved wife, and one priceless painting?

The charming Eduardo de Valfierno makes a very respectable living in Argentina fleecing the nouveau rich--they pay him to steal valuable pieces of art, and Valfierno sells them flawless forgeries instead. But when Eduardo meets the beautiful Mrs. Hart on his latest con, he takes a risk that forces him back to the city he loved and left behind--Paris. There he assembles his team of con artists for their final and most ambitious theft, one that will enable them to leave the game forever: The Mona Lisa.

(Source: Minotaur Books)