The Forgers

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Onetime forger Will, the refined if unreliable narrator of this artfully limned suspense novel from Morrow (The Diviner’s Tale), gets involved in the macabre mutilation-murder in a Montauk, N.Y., beachfront cottage of his girlfriend Meghan’s brother, Adam Diehl, who was, like himself and Meghan, a member an insular circle of rare book aficionados. But as soon as Will starts to discuss the blackmailing missive, written in Henry James’s distinctive hand, that undid his career as a forger, one hardly needs to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that much more is going on than initially meets the eye. Indeed, as the story of tenuously reformed Will’s attempt to move forward with a normal life with Meghan unfolds,, the insights that Morrow offers into the lure of collecting, the rush of forgery as a potentially creative act, and underlying questions of authenticity render the whodunit one of the lesser mysteries of this sly puzzler. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agents.

August 1, 2014

In his latest novel, Morrow (The Uninnocent) introduces us to the "visual art form" of high-end literary forgery: skilled con men who adopt the handwriting and artistic stylings of famous authors, penning letters and book inscriptions that they sell for handsome profits. The mysterious narrator is a semireformed forger himself, and his girlfriend's brother, a rare book collector named Adam Diehl, has just been murdered in a gruesome manner. As Morrow pulls back the curtain to reveal the murky world of book sellers and buyers and ushers readers into the mind of a forger for whom falsifying the perfect signature is a thrill, he also draws us deeper into the puzzle of who killed Diehl. VERDICT Morrow writes with a sure, clear voice, and his prose is lush and detailed. Readers who are willing to forgive some slow-paced sections and a few red herrings along the way will be rewarded with a twisty and suspenseful conclusion. Recommended for readers who enjoy atmospheric literary thrillers such as Caleb Carr's The Alienist.--Amy Hoseth, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins

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