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Fake

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"'Fake' is great fun, offering a peek into a world of glitz that most of us will never glimpse firsthand."" —Washington Post

From the author of The Boys' Club, a gripping novel set in the high-stakes world of art forgery that moves across the globe, from the trendy art galleries of Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood to the high-flying international art fairs of Hong Kong.

Can you spot the difference?

Emma Caan is a fake.

She's a forger, an artist who specializes in nineteenth-century paintings. But she isn't a criminal; her copies are commissioned by museums and ultra-wealthy collectors protecting their investments. Emma's more than mastered a Gauguin brushstroke and a van Gogh wheat field, but her work is sometimes a painful reminder of the artistic dreams she once chased for herself, when she was younger and before her family and her world fell apart.

When oligarch art collector Leonard Sobetsky unexpectedly appears with an invitation, Emma sees a way out—a new job, a new path for herself, and access to the kind of money she needs to support her unstable and recently widowed mother.

But every invitation incurs an obligation . . . and Emma isn't prepared for what's to come. As she's pulled further into Leonard's opulent scene, she will discover what's lurking beneath the glitz and glamour. When she does, the past she's worked hard to overcome will collide with the present, making her wonder how much of her carefully curated life is just as fake as her forgeries . . .

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 20, 2021
      Russian oligarch Leonard Sobetsky makes aspiring artist Emma Caan, the narrator of this propulsive thriller from Katz (The Boys’ Club), the kind of offer typically associated with a whiff of sulfur: leave Manhattan’s Gemini Reproductions, where she’s one of a stable cranking out (strictly legal) brushstroke-perfect replicas of masterpieces for their owners, to copy exclusively for him and he’ll not only pay handsomely but also give her entrée to the art world’s stratosphere. In a flash, the 26-year-old segues from subways and ramen to Instafamous assistant director at a prestigious gallery, winging on her benefactor’s private jet to a Hong Kong art fair to broker megabucks sales and party epically. All the while, however, she’s anxiously waiting for the other Louboutin to drop—which readers know will happen since this twisty tale, which unspools largely in flashbacks, opens with Emma being grilled by FBI agents concerning her dealings with Sobetsky. Though a key secondary story line about Emma’s dysfunctional family feels contrived, the author’s exposing of some of the art business’s more egregious manipulations and frauds makes for genuinely captivating entertainment. Katz remains a writer to watch. Agent: Allison Hunter, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Andi Arndt brings charm to the story of na�ve and mentally unstable art copyist Emma Caan. Working as a legal forger of valuable masterpieces for owners who wish to store the originals, Emma is flattered to be accepted into the jet-setting world of Russian oligarch Leonard Sobetsky, one of her clients. But soon her new life in the high-end art world spirals out of control, and she realizes that she is being used as a pawn. Arndt gives well-developed voices to a wide-ranging cast of secondary characters ranging from Emma's friends and colleagues to Leonard's Russian associates and art-world stars. The listener will be rooting for Emma until the end. J.E.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2022

      Andi Arndt, two-time Audie Award winner and member of the Audible Hall of Fame, ably narrates Katz's second novel, following the Netflix-optioned The Boys' Club. The book opens with Emma being grilled by the FBI about her relationship with Russian oligarch and avid art collector Leonard Sobetsky. Emma works at Gemini Reproductions, where she skillfully and legally copies famous paintings for museums and patrons, who do not want to display the originals in public. Leonard convinces Emma to quit her job at Gemini and copy exclusively for him. Of course Emma can still sign her name in indelible ink on the back of each painting, so her copies won't be confused with the originals. Through Leonard's connections and influence in the art world, Emma lands a job at a prestigious art gallery and becomes part of the rarefied and glamorous world of the privileged art aficionados. But there's a price to pay for all this high living. VERDICT Katz details the role media influencers play in this luxurious world. Arndt narrates with intensity and perfect pacing. Listeners feel Emma's anxiety as she is relentlessly questioned by the FBI.--Ilka Gordon

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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