I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Love the cover. I enjoyed the novel a good mystery/thriller/drama.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for giving me this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
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When I heard about the plot of this book, I was very excited to learn more about Han van Meegeren and his forgery. I was also curious to view about Amsterdam, the capital city of my home country, through the eyes of a foreigner.

However, I hate to say that I was a bit disappointed by this book. While the plot had potential, the writing style did not appeal to me. If it were non-fiction it would have been different, but it lacked the finesse that is crucial in a good fiction book. The main character annoyed me a lot, particularly because he lacked the empathy to understand his depressed wife. For a large part of the book, he appeared very annoyed at her instead. The other characters lacked some depth in my opinion.

Nevertheless, the parts about Van Meegeren were very interesting, and I would have loved it if those were featured in the book more often. This made the book still worthwhile for me, and I like it that the author put this famous forger back in the spotlight in a contemporary story.

This book is wonderful. I was drawn in from the opening scene of Henry navigating a narrow staircase with a large suitcase in a Dutch apartment. If the story had been about Henry starting over in Amsterdam that would have been great. . The addition of the dutch forger Han van Meegeren, was perfection. The level of detail into the forger technique really drew me in. I loved these scenes in the book. Add additional layers of Henry’s wife and their ongoing marital strife and Bernadette to the forger’s mystery and you have a great international story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 2.5. Not what i thought it was going to be like, and thus not as much my cup of tea as i thought it would be. This book also seemed to drag on even tho imo its not that long. Would recommend to someone who likes more drama art books.

⭐⭐

Didn't love this one. I struggled to finish it and kept putting it down. I found it slow, and boring and confusing at times. 🤷🏻‍♀️

**ARC Via NetGalley**

The story begins on page one and brings you into the characters feelings like you are living the horrors with her. How will she live if her nightmares become real again. Family dynamics and faith of the writer to give you a journey that is intoxicating. Grab a martini ,curl up and leave the lights on.

I was very intrigued after reading the title and the blurb but the story kind of fell flat for me. The first few chapters were indeed interesting but when more characters are introduced the plot kind of lost track and made it more confusing and a bit boring. Although it picked up pace after few more chapters.

When his marital life came under a lot of trouble, Henry Lindon moved to Amsterdam to work as a visiting Professor. He meets a beautiful and attractive neighbour and the head of the Art department, Bernadette Gordon. But life is not always so easy. His troubles did not seem to end there as his wife Marylou decides to join him.

And most importantly the person behind all the trouble named Guy Wheeless is released from prison and Henry has to make a foolproof plan to get this person off their back permanently. We see a lot of interesting details of Dutch Art and the painting of Han Van Meegeren, an art forger who is infamous for his forged paintings.

The storyline and characters I felt lacked some depth to it but the writing style was good. I felt it would have been more interesting if there was some more information about the characters altogether. I really liked the part where Bernadette Gordon gives the history of the art forgery by Van Meegeren. It was very fascinating but it stopped there for me. I was a bit disappointed after reading the story.

I liked the title and description, but it didn't live up to all of my expectations. It is a good story and an interesting one, but not a great one. I think some mystery readers will like this one.

Thanks very much for the review copy!!

If I had the chance to solve my problems overseas, personally I would choose to solve my problems in London. The weather there seems to be more my cup of tea (pun not intended) than sunny Singapore, and I could do with being able to visit a well stocked art museum more than once or twice a year.

But as anybody with a history of running away from their problems could tell you, regardless of where you choose to flee, problems don’t have to deal with visas.

For Henry Lindon, when trouble enters his marital life, the academic professor chooses to flee to Amsterdam as a visiting professor. However, trouble is a friend and his wife, Marylou, who had stayed home to deal with her severe bout of depression, soon calls with a proposal to come join him in Amsterdam.

Not just that, the root of her depression, Guy Wheeless, the Lindons’ arch nemesis, has just been released from prison and Henry is tasked to break this news to his emotionally fragile wife.

Determined to save their marriage and Marylou’s sanity, the Lindon have to cook up an outrageous plan, one that would get Wheeless off their back once and for all.

I’m not too proud to admit that I did partially pick up Small’s novel because of the pun/alliteration in the title. Coupled with the promise that art — but more specifically art forgery, would play a huge part in the plot — I was excited to see something that was a cross between the Ocean’s 11 movies and The Da Vinci code.

Sadly, that was not what I would get.

Small’s novel was meant to be an ensemble piece, judging by the sheer amount of characters we meet. The Lindons are the central characters but we also met Wheeless in some detail, Marvin (Henry Lindon’s brother), Constance (Marvin’s love interest) and Esmeralda Ortiz (a police officer investigating Wheeless’ involvement in a murder case).

In a typical ensemble piece, characters’ arcs tend to converge towards the climax, typically to reveal how each of their stories were part of a larger theme or a larger story than we had originally thought. Think John Marrs or even The Seven Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle.

However, none of the characters truly developed over their storylines. I could maybe see a marked change in Marylou, but I wouldn’t doubt that Henry would run away at the first sign of trouble the next time their marriage hits a bumpy road.

Each character was so clumsily fitted together, they only had one brief point of contact with each other towards the end of the novel, only to diverge, never to meet again. In Ortiz’s case, she is investigating Wheeler’s possible involvement in a murder but it is never mentioned how this murder is actually relevant to the rest of the characters, past the given that murder is bad. And when Ortiz solves the case in the end, it barely impacts the other characters at all, just herself and her own ego.

And I may not the biggest fan of purple prose but even so The Forger’s Forgery is so skimp on description that it is the exact opposite of purple prose, to the point where we would have to invent an opposite of the colour purple to adequately describe the lack of worldbuilding in this novel.

Small’s style does remind me of John Grisham’s in the sense that both the authors tend to be very straightforward in their description. However, the majority of Small’s descriptions were dry to the point that it could have been a listicle. The story was also largely moved forward by his characters’ speech, rather than their arcs.

Every new plot point was introduced in a long explanatory monologue. Any and all backstory was revealed by a secondary character’s exposition. I genuinely felt as if I was in a lecture. The novel came across like a court transcript and maybe that shouldn’t have come as a surprise since Small was a former lawyer.

Could there be someone in the world who could like The Forger’s Forgery? Maybe, if they wanted a more digestible version of John Grisham’s novels. But even so, I did genuinely feel like I wasted my time on this book. I have no doubts about Small’s ability as a lawyer, but as a novelist, I would say the true forger in this case might be him.

The Forger's Forgery by Clay G. Small. Greenleaf Book Group, 2021.

I enjoyed reading this book, immediately engaged with Henry Lindon as the main character in a visiting academic scenario, then found the first small shift backward two months, Part II Chapter 5, to new, less likeable characters a little rough. Once I realized there are three “sets” of characters – Henry and his family and friends, the police, and the criminals - with some overlapping relationships, I was fine. The story picked up again for me, I particularly enjoyed Amsterdam and the historical details on van Meegeren through to the sting at the end.

Had I not overlooked that this is the second book in the Henry Lindon series, I would have been less distracted when I felt some characters and situations were introduced without enough details or descriptions, and spent time looking back to see if I’d missed something. These did not affect the ending, and perhaps are features of others in the series.

This book reminded me of Ian Rankin’s 2008 stand-alone Doors Open. I went back and reminded myself about that, and prefer this one.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Forger’s Forgery for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheForgersForgery #NetGalley

I received an advanced reader copy of Forger’s Forgery through Net Galley to read in return for an honest review.

As I read “ Forger’s Forgery” by Clay G. Small , the thought kept running through my mind that the book was a screen treatment for a streaming service presentation. Beautiful foreign locales, some moderately upscale , somewhat glam people, and a plot of sweet revenge against a nasty guy who had it coming. As with most TV movies, it is so-so.

“ Forger’s Forgery” begins with Henry Linton’s arrival in Amsterdam as a visiting lecturer in US financial law . He meets with Bernadette Gordon, the head of the Art department, and his upstairs neighbor who will act as his guide to Amsterdam, the city and the University. She is attractive , unmarried and author of some technical art books and a current novel about Hans Von Meegeren, who gained infamy , then notoriety for forging fake Vermeer paintings. Henry, whose undergrad degree was in art history, before he thought he had better study law to make money, travels with Professor Gordon to a museums to see some of the forgeries so as to re- familiarize himself with the history of Dutch Art and to enjoy Bernadette’s company. Henry’s feels a growing attraction to Bernadette, in part because of his strained relationship with his wife, Marylou, in part because of a mid-life ennui.
The history of the art forger , who was at first despised, then lauded in the Netherlands is nicely presented , as were the character of Dutch cities and the Dutch people. They are the best parts of the book.

In order to set the story in motion, the scene shifts backwards in time by two months, back to the US and Linton’s troubled relationship with his wife . It seems that her hitherto successful home decor business has gone critical because a bathroom toy sold in large numbers by the company, a yellow rubber duck, had been painted with toxic lead paint. All toys were recalled at great expense. Lawsuits had drained the company dry.That, and the bad publicity , broke the firm, and had broken his wife, Marylou, who is deeply depressed. The subcontracting company which provided the tainted toys was owned by a vicious slick hedge fund operator, a Gordon- Gecko type person named Guy Wheelers. As the reader soon discovers , Gordon and Marylou, have a history with Wheelers that goes back to their high- school days.
The revenge idea that pops into Henry’s mind is to ruin Wheelers and give a satisfying payback for his wife. How that is accomplished makes up most of the book’s story, but I will leave that out- Why spoil things?
I thought that the most interesting parts of the book are those featuring Bernadette Gordon, the ArtHistory professor of Amsterdam University. She is the book’s most intriguing character, except for Hans Von Meegeren. The character Bernadette, relating the saga of the Vermeer
Forgeries is far more interesting to me than anyone else the novel. I liked her as a character and wish that there was more development of her. The main character , Henry Linton, is as bland as unflavored oatmeal and his wife Marylou a null. Even the villain of the book, Guy Wheelers, comes off as mostly peevish and petulant. Various other participants in the novel leave little impression, with the possible exception of Constance, a shrink with more serious problems that her patients.
There are lengthy chapters in the book that have little to do with the story and could have added to the insight into certain characters, but did nothing but add superfluous characters. The climatic reveal could have a lot more focused. In fact, and in my opinion, the author has too many sub- stories happening in the book which detract from the main flow of the story, especially as the characters involved are not very real.


Summing up: What could have been a delightful revenge novel with echoes of “ The Sting” is simply flat. Mr Clay, the author was once , as the end notes relate, a PepsiCo executive officer.
He should have added more sparkle to this brew.

Thank you for my copy - Upon receiving a complimentary copy of this off, my opinions are solely my own.

The Forger’s Forgery, a story of a a powerful man being brought down by forging a lost art. The book itself was hard to keep up and I tend to get lost within its characters. The multiple point of view of characters was a bit confusing. However, the plot in itself was interesting.