The Genius

Starred review from February 25, 2008
Greed gets Ethan Muller, a 33-year-old Manhattan art dealer, into hot water in Kellerman's superb third stand-alone thriller (after Trouble
). When reclusive artist Victor Cracke disappears, Muller winds up taking possession of the boxes and boxes of intense, disturbing drawings that Cracke left behind in his shabby Queens apartment. A favorable New York Times
article helps fuel lucrative sales at an exhibit of Cracke's drawings at Muller's Chelsea gallery. Soon, though, Muller starts to receive cryptic, vaguely threatening letters. He also hears from a retired NYPD detective, Lee McGrath, who recognizes the face of one of the boys in a Cracke drawing as belonging to the victim of a 40-year-old unsolved murder. That revelation turns Muller into an amateur detective as he attempts to discover how the dead boy's image—along with those of several other victims—made its way into the pictures. Kellerman has a gift for creating compelling characters as well as for crafting an ingenious plot that grabs the reader and refuses to let go. Author tour.

In Kellerman's best storytelling yet, Ethan Muller, a smug, narcissistic gallery owner, comes into possession of an astonishing collection of sketches otherwise headed for the dumpster. The artist, reclusive shut-in Victor Cracke, has disappeared. When a retired police detective sees the drawings and recognizes the face of a boy killed years ago in one of them--you're hooked. Narrator Kirby Heyborne's voice offers rewarding surprises. As Ethan, Heyborne sounds ironic, and appropriately trendy. As the old-warhorse ex-cop, his gravelly rasp foreshadows the man's deadly cancer. As a convoluted tangle of back stories unfolds, Heyborne's performance makes you believe it all. Kellerman brings a satisfying symmetry to Ethan's search for the mysterious Victor, and Heyborne's narration will keep listeners chained to their earphones. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine