The Forgers

Starred review from September 1, 2014
Onetime forger Will, the refined if unreliable narrator of this artfully limned suspense novel from Morrow (The Diviner’s Tale), gets involved in the macabre mutilation-murder in a Montauk, N.Y., beachfront cottage of his girlfriend Meghan’s brother, Adam Diehl, who was, like himself and Meghan, a member an insular circle of rare book aficionados. But as soon as Will starts to discuss the blackmailing missive, written in Henry James’s distinctive hand, that undid his career as a forger, one hardly needs to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that much more is going on than initially meets the eye. Indeed, as the story of tenuously reformed Will’s attempt to move forward with a normal life with Meghan unfolds,, the insights that Morrow offers into the lure of collecting, the rush of forgery as a potentially creative act, and underlying questions of authenticity render the whodunit one of the lesser mysteries of this sly puzzler. Agent: Henry Dunow, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agents.

August 1, 2014

In his latest novel, Morrow (The Uninnocent) introduces us to the "visual art form" of high-end literary forgery: skilled con men who adopt the handwriting and artistic stylings of famous authors, penning letters and book inscriptions that they sell for handsome profits. The mysterious narrator is a semireformed forger himself, and his girlfriend's brother, a rare book collector named Adam Diehl, has just been murdered in a gruesome manner. As Morrow pulls back the curtain to reveal the murky world of book sellers and buyers and ushers readers into the mind of a forger for whom falsifying the perfect signature is a thrill, he also draws us deeper into the puzzle of who killed Diehl. VERDICT Morrow writes with a sure, clear voice, and his prose is lush and detailed. Readers who are willing to forgive some slow-paced sections and a few red herrings along the way will be rewarded with a twisty and suspenseful conclusion. Recommended for readers who enjoy atmospheric literary thrillers such as Caleb Carr's The Alienist.--Amy Hoseth, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 22, 2014
The macabre mutilation-murder of a rare book dealer at his beachfront cottage in Montauk, Long Island, kicks off this sly, artfully limned crime novel. Will, the narrator, has a shady past that threatens to catch up with him. He begins receiving letters that were seemingly written by long dead authors but are really from someone with a vendetta against him and knowledge of the murder. Reader Bray finds appropriate voices and attitudes for the relatively small cast of characters—including Will’s girlfriend, Meghan, bereft after her brother’s death; Atticus Moore, the New England–accented avuncular book dealer; and Will’s blackmailer, whose overdone civility, in the course of a short conversation, quickly gives way to cold fury. But Bray’s strongest contribution is his rendering of Will, through a performance that adds dimension to the purposefully undefined narrator. Bray presents Will as urbane but with a touch of raffishness, someone whose dispassionate view of the world is just short of sociopathy. It’s a striking example of how audio can successfully embrace and enhance an author’s intent. A Mysterious Press hardcover.