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THE CELLINI MASTERPIECE
by Raymond John
iUniverse, October 2004
370 pages
$20.95
ISBN: 0595328059


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Rick Olsen is flying to Malta to meet his brother Stef. But he gets a rather less than warm welcome when, within hours of landing at the airport, attempts are made on his life. And Stef is nowhere to be found.

It turns out that Stef, a scholar, has been kidnapped by those who want to get their hands on a medieval treasure he's tracked down. Rick must find his brother -- but before too long he's catapulted into international intrigue that threatens the Mediterranean island.

Rick's sidekick is Caterina Borg, a beautiful taxi driver who is more than capable of taking care of herself. The pair of them build up a great rapport and their constant banter is a strong part of the book. They must battle local and foreign threats to save both Stef and the island itself.

John's affection for and knowledge of Malta is unmistakable, and the island provides an exciting backdrop to the thriller. The characterisation loses out sometimes to the setting -- what you see is what you get with Rick, although we do learn he's a Minnesota farmer/prairie restorer with a military background.

There are several other intriguing characters it would have been good to have got to know better, including Caterina's great-aunt Josefina who runs a guest house and shelters North African refugees, and Bob Carpenter, the enigmatic CIA chief in Malta. Stef, too, is a rather shadowy presence through much of the book.

THE CELLINI MASTERPIECE isn't your usual run-of-the-mill thriller. It binds together art, history and international affairs -- and the denouement is reached through intelligence from nearly 600 years ago and from today's cyber age.

It's a slow book, though, and one that would have benefited from a publisher more committed to editing -- losing 50 to 75 pages would have tightened up the action no end. But John has produced an unusual, intelligent and literate thriller.

Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, April 2005

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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