CHIAROSCURO

by Peter Clothier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 30, 1985

Jake Molnar, the unengaging narrator-hero of this strained mystery debut, is a supposed ""legend"" of the modem-art world who's been a noble N.Y.C. recluse since the late 1960's. (He has rejected abstract painting for figure drawing, pompously ""looking for the indispensable truth."") Now, however, Jake is jolted into contact with the art-world--when trendy young artist Carlos Smith is murdered. . .just hours after slipping a small package to Jake. What's inside the package? Well, it contains evidence suggesting that the late Worthing Nelson (another artist-legend) was really murdered, that he produced at least 20 unknown, never-seen masterpieces, and that dead sculptor Patty Drayton (a kinky suicide) was also murdered! Motivated by curiosity, then by guilt/vengeance (model-mistress Laura is the next murder victim), Jake promptly turns sleuth, of course--heading out to L.A., where those secret Worthing Nelson masterworks have surfaced. The trail leads to a shady art-dealer and a cackling hit-man; Jake and his brand-new girlfriend almost die in routine kidnap/car-chase action. But Jake, now himself a murder target in cliched thriller style (""Everyone's looking for me and I can't tell the good guys from the bad""), must return to N.Y. to confront the preditable masterminds of the theft/murder scam--which he does after discovering another corpse, Worthing Nelson's porno-secrets, and a gruesome snuff movie. Clothier, an art journalist, offers a few effective vignettes from the flashy gallery-world along the way here; some readers may be vaguely titillated by occasional whiffs of roman … clef gossip. The plot itself, however, is clumsily far-fetched: too many corpses, too much conspiracy. And though solidly readable for goodly stretches, Jake's narration is frequently off-putting--larded with macho posturing, pretentious introspection, and smugly superficial art-critiques.

Pub Date: Dec. 30, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION