Will OttingerRezensionen

A great mystery with an unlikely duo trying to track down a painting before some more unsavory characters can get their hands on it. There's plenty of tension and suspense woven into the plot, keeping it moving forward smoothly, but I wouldn't call this a thriller per se. That said, Ottinger did a great job creating believable characters and drawing the reader into the shady side of high-end art dealings. If you're looking for a mystery that will keep you up late reading, then you'll want to put this at the top of your TBR pile.

After several tries, I gave up on this book. The primary character is a vapid art expert who kind of wanders through the story. The plot was not very interesting and certainly not compelling enough for me to continue.½

Exciting, but without stridency. The different threads of the plot are related without too much complexity. Perhaps the bad 'guy' is too obvious.

Shadows of Leonardo starts off in Russia, 1945 with a German officer and a mysterious crate. Next we are in New York City 2018, at an art auction with protagonist Adam Barrow who is presented with troubling information about the authenticity of a Da Vinci artwork. He will then go out of his way to find the truth. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and got swept up in both the past and the present. The book is easy to read and it became a page turner, the more I got immersed in the plot. I do enjoy books that involve a painting so I was delighted to read this one.

Thank you to Black Rose Writing and LibraryThing Early Reviewers for the opportunity to read and review this book.½

Excellent read. Reminds my a lot of some Steve Berry novels - there is a current story/mystery that is rooted in events in the past (in this case, WWII and the Nazis). The use of Adam as the main character, an art historian/researcher allows the author to go into great details on art (both the present day art gallery world as well as the time period for the origination of the art). This is a very entertaining read that makes me want to seek out the author's first book (The Last Van Gogh) which will hopefully fill in some more details and background on the main character, Adam Barrow.½

Shadows of Leonardo by Will Ottinger—an early reader’s review
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started to read this book—it started nearly 80 years ago and bounced back and forth to the present with no easy to see connection. But as it took shape, I was hooked. I found myself trying to guess how the characters were related—how the past would color the present— if the characters’ assumptions could pan out-- and I wasn’t disappointed. I liked the protagonist; he was flawed but believable and I pulled for him—I wanted him to avoid disaster and sidestep the tight spots that fate was throwing in his path. I found the story fascinating and the glimpse of the underbelly of the art collector’s world was enlightening.
If you enjoy art at all, this is a good read.½

This was a fun read! Great elements of the seedier side of NYC and the art world. I like Adam's character and would like to read more about him.
I enjoyed how the suspense built up until the very end. I also liked the dual timelines and how you weren't quite sure how they would mesh. Kept me interested and kept me guessing, which I really appreciate. I hate when books are predictable.

I recieved a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review

It has taken me a while to write this review, mostly because I wanted to read the first Adam Barrow book (The Last Van Gogh) before this one. Whilst that in no way effect this story, it was helpful with understanding some of the back characters. Initially I couldn't figure out what the Nazi in Russia story had to do with the NYC story but slowly it came to me and I have to say it was a very interesting read on how some art was removed from it's original home during WW2 and a warning to be wary of it's provenance. I found the art history bits about daVinci and his colleagues interesting too. All in all a good read, I look forward to the next installment of Adam Barrow.

*This review is an unbiased review of a book I received free of charge from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.*
Will Ottinger is very good at developing even the lesser characters and also at describing certain places and scenes well. There is a dual story track to begin, the two sides of which eventually intersect. The mystery part kept me guessing and I was convinced one character was shady when they appeared not to be. I don't want to say more because I don't want to expose surprises. I enjoyed the book, though, and liked the many storylines that appeared throughout. I will read more of Mr. Ottinger.½

4 1/2 stars Very good read. This book runs on a dual track-the first track is the story of a Nazi SS soldier who finds a crate of what appears to be genuine Leonardo Da Vinci works of art. This track of the novel follows the artwork from 1945 to the present. The other track involves Adam Barrow, an art investigator commissioned to purchase authentic DaVinci works sold by a NYC gallery in the 2000s. The book is one of suspense as it travels through the journeys of each character. This book is well written and the reader can also learn facts about the history of DaVinci and his colleagues in the 1500s.

Interesting and intriguing read.

While I enjoyed this book, I found many typographical/grammatical errors throughout its pages. There frequently were missing words which I had to imagine were there in order for the sentence to make sense.
I loved the whole premise, because I love Van Gogh’s paintings. It was intriguing to get a glimpse into what his life might have been like—what he actually felt or thought.
I liked the going back and forth in time, and the world travel. I anticipated some of the ending, but not all, which is normal for me. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves art and mysteries.

The mixture of themes in this book worked quite well. There is enough art history content to feel that it is educational on some level. The story itself seems a bit far fetched and stretched my willingness to suspend disbelief. I did find the story dragged a bit in places, however I felt motivated to read to the end and the ending was satisfactory. I am happy I read this book but don't think I can add it to my list of personal favourites.½

I really enjoyed this book. The art world is fascinating and the back and forth with Van Gogh was well done...he's such a bizarre character in his own right and then to have the interesting story of the two brothers and the search for the missing painting, the book just flew by, really well done. I also enjoyed the travel, and the supporting characters were quirky and interesting as well.½

I am absolutely in love with this book, when it finally arrived. A true detective tale interwoven with some historical fiction, part espionage part love story, I really enjoyed this tale. The only reason I’m not giving it five stars was the publisher only sent the copies out to library thing early reviewers after enough bad press that they didn’t follow through with sending out books.½

When I started reading this book I found the premise interesting and was looking forward to seeing how the plot would develop. The characterisation of the protagonist and his brother did encourage you to read on to find out what happens next. There were also a number of vignettes that provided glimpses into key historical events.
The author certainly showed an understanding of the art world which was interesting, along with a detailed knowledge of Vincent van Gogh. He also, at times, provided a lot of detail on what I surmise to be fashionable and expensive brands of clothing as well as occasional detailed information on what I gather was intended to be high end food and drink.
There were a number of red herrings that were thrown into the plot, even though there was no rationale for these incidents to occur at this point in time, and some seemed to be thrown in to provide dramatic tension through some gratuitous violence and a neat ending. For me, the elements of the plot were not developed well enough to support the initial premise, making it all seem rather contrived.
I found the writing style convoluted, which was exacerbated by a heavy handed use of adjectives combined with partial sentences and the wrong words (perhaps due to spell check offering a different word which was accepted). The author also changed the point of view, from the third to first person. This seemed to be at random times rather than with intent to highlight elements of the plot or the characters, such as in relation to Vincent van Gogh and his mental health.
I also accept that maybe my expectations for grammar and literacy are higher than what now seems to be the norm for e-publications and that not all authors can afford a really good proof reader.
I received a copy of this book as an Early Reviewer, and because of this, did keep reading to the end of the book rather than put the book down unfinished, despite finding it rather hard going.

So, you know what to expect with a book like this: a lost painting, clues left behind to its existence, lots of people chasing it, a family secret, a mis-matched pair join together to find it and fall in love…. OK, that’s what it is, and that’s how it should be judged. And I enjoyed it.

Adam Barrow owns an art gallery in Chicago, his brother Wes is a hopeless drunk, both of them living under the shadow of their late-father’s deceit and alcoholism. Their father had often spoken of a lost painting by van Gogh, a massive oil painting of a young girl in a field that he had acquired when it was smuggled into America to avoid to being looted by the Nazis. There are letters from a previous owner proving the painting exists, but that is all.

What then follows is a rollercoaster ride, a (in a good way) cliché-filled chase across the world, from Chicago to Amsterdam and Paris and New York to California. Adam is sent off on his hunt by getting tangled up with the Russian mob, and he is assigned a stunningly beautiful woman as his ‘protection’, Katia Veranova, an ex-KGB agent with some dark secrets of her own. There is a mysterious ‘benefactor’ who has hired an assassin to track the pair and, as the body count mounts up, the chase becomes a cat and mouse affair. Oh, and there is another assassin, sent by the KGB, to track down Katia and get rid of her. Are you keeping up?

This is very much a genre piece, and the author clearly knows the art world; whilst the premise is a little unbelievable, the pace is cracking and the pages turn themselves in the race towards the inevitable climax. Yes, some of the dialogue is a little obvious, and yes, it is very much in the Dan Brown strain of books, but there were enough little nods to its own artifice that made me feel that we were in the hands of someone who knew the limits of the form (there are references to James Bond, conspiracies, and at one point a Reservoir Dogs-style Mexican stand-off). It’s not literary fiction, so I judge this solely on its merit: did I enjoy it? Yes. Are the characters likeable enough to engage you? Yes, but in a two-dimensional way. Does the plot rattle along at a decent pace without flagging? Again, yes. Most people will enjoy the twists and turns along the way, and the ending avoids tripping into schmaltz, which is to its credit. Fasten your seatbelts, 4 stars!

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of the book.)