Art theft, secrets and a swearing Scandinavian noblewoman...

Raphael’s Portrait of a Young Man is the most important and precious masterpiece which got lost from Polish museums during the Second World War. Until now we don’t know if it was destroyed or survived the war time and has been pleasing some private collector’s eye since then.

In Priceless (the Polish title Bezcenny) by Zygmunt Miłoszewski, finding the painting has been the most important task in Zofia Lorentz’s career. As a Ministry of Foreign Affairs worker, she is responsible for regaining artworks that have been lost or stolen from Polish museums and galleries. And she is known for being highly successful in what she does. When Portrait of a Young Man is finally traced in the USA, Lorentz and her team go there to get it. Even though they are aware it won’t be easy and will include burglary and theft.

The main characters turn out to be a lethal combination and it’s impossible not to feel bonds with them. Zofia is a mad art devotee but when it comes to things that aren’t connected with her passion, she is tough and uncompromising. In her team there are also a cynical art dealer with a warm heart (by the way, Zofia’s ex-lover), a retired ranger and a spy (one of the best in the country) and a Swedish art thief, released from prison on this occasion. Each of them is unique and I guarantee that you will love them at once. Especially the charming Scandinavian noblewoman seems to steal not only artworks but readers’ hearts as well.

Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael

At first sight Priceless appears to be one the thrillers that flooded the bookstores after the success of The Da Vinci Code, but don’t let yourself be misled by the plot summary! Yes, there is a secret, which - if revealed – is going to change our view on the 20^th century history. Yes, there is a group of art-seekers, who constantly get into troubles but always manage to save their butts just in the very last moment. Yes, the plot refers to one the most mysterious paintings dating back to the same time as The Last Supper, which creates such a confusion in The Da Vinci Code. Taking into consideration only those rather well-worn ideas, the novel is only one of many Brown-like thrillers.

But Miłoszewski’s book is something much better! The author plays with well-known motifs, juggles them adding his own ideas and in this way turning even the most predictable scenes into little pieces of art. I truly enjoyed his wiring style, irony and black humour, which didn’t let me put the book on the shelf without a long struggle with myself.

Although it’s been quite a long time since I read Priceless, I still find it one of the best books in its genre. It gave me a lot of emotions, I was laughing a lot but also found myself with a tear in my eye in a few moments. I can only wish myself and other readers more such books.

If you want to read this review in Polish, please click here. 

Destiny is hidden in your dreams

Agnieszka Lingas-Łoniewska

Szósty

(The Sixth)

Polish Publisher: REPLIKA

Zakrzewo 2012

On the sixth day God created man – a man and a woman

On the sixth day… I will take your life because I am your god

Have you ever thought what role in your life the destiny plays? Does it even exist? Or maybe one day people created the word “destiny” to avoid responsibility for managing their own fate?

Inspector Martin Langer does not certainly believe either in destiny or in dreams until he finds out that somewhere there is someone who planned his life carefully. At the time, when we meet Martin, the man is thirty-two years old. He is the chief of the Criminal Investigation Group of Silesia. All his attention is focused only on his job. He also lives in an unhappy relationship with a younger model – Angela. The girl is interested only in herself. For her the most important thing is her job. This situation is very similar to Martin’s one. She does not seem to be interested in her boyfriend’s life at all. Angela is a so-called “young lady from a good family”. Angela’s father is a millionaire who tries to fulfill all her desires while Martin’s life has never spoiled him and he had to achieve everyhthing on his own. So, such a relationship may not be successful.

One day while jogging Martin loses his consciousness. He is taken to the hospital with a diagnosis of pectoris. His condition is quite serious, but not life-threatening. Langer’s elder brother – Michael and his wife are watching at Martin’s bed all the time. At the time of the fall, Inspector Langer suffered from a serious head injury. That is why now he is unconscious and staying in ICU.

On the next bed there is a man, Jack Szymczak. He is also unconscious, but his doctors do not give even the slightest chance of survival. Returning from the short honeymoon, both he and his wife involved in a serious road accident. To save Alice, Jack sacrificed himself. He preferred not to survive a collision with a lorry than lose his Ali. Although he is dying, he is not going to cease to care about her.

Six years later Martin Langer is no longer the head of the Silesian section of the Investigation Group of Silesia, but now he stands on its head. Still the work is the most important thing for him. Despite the warnings of doctors, Martin is still working intensively. His relationship with Angela continuous, but over the years, nothing has changed between them. Furthermore, Martin is haunted by dreams about the unknown woman who every time when she comes to him, says the same sentence: “I have been waiting for you, Martin”. The woman has light hair and beautiful green eyes.

Now Inspector Langer works on a very difficult case. He tries to find a serial killer who is prowling in Silesia. His victims are green-eyed blondes. He abducts the women and then kills them on the sixth day after the abduction.

In this way a senior midshipman, Alice Szymczak appears in Martin’s life. The woman is a police profiler, whose task is to create a psychological portrait of the killer. When Martin meets Alice for the first time, he is sure that the woman, standing in  front of him, is the same that he can see in his dreams. At this moment his consciousness is reaching the meaning of these strange hallucinations which have been visiting him for many years. As you know, it began when he was lying in the hispital. And thus the mad race against time to save another green-eyed blonde from death begins. Apart from that the passionate feeling also breaks out between Alice and Martin. However, both are convinced that their acquaintance is not incidental, they do not give vent to their passions at once.

If you want to know what will happen to this police couple and whether Martin will manage to save his beloved against the death from hands of the psychopath, you must absolutely read The Sixth! Certainly you will not find out about it reading my review.

The Sixth is the first novel of Agnes Lingas-Loniewska I read. I remember that I was waiting for that moment for a long time. I do not regret any moments I spent with this book. As a reader, I received everything what I expected. The novel kept me in suspense from the first page. I still wondered what would happen next and who would be a real psychopath who brutally murdered green-eyed blondes. Unfortunately, I was unable to predict the real killer, so this fact means that the plot of the novel is constructed fantastically. Think, if the reader knows who is the murder after reading a few chapters, what sense is to read next ones? In this situation the novel would be very boring. It this case it is not! We can only guess who is a psychopath but we have to wait for the final solution of this mistery until the end of the book. In addition, the action is still rushing forward. It is very dynamic, which makes that the readers have the impression that they are participating in it with the book characters. The author uses easy and fluent language. This fact causes that the book is read very well. The reader is not tired and he/she does not have to wonder what the author meant while writing. In this book there is no shortage of vulgar words but these are not used by chance. You must know that if you want to show the reality of a specific human environment, sometimes you might need to use some vulgar words. It is normal, so we should not be upset because of that.

Once Terence said: “I am a human being, I consider nothing that is human alien to me” (Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto). While reading The Sixth I often thought about this sentence. Why? Because I observed that most Polish writers are afraid of describing sex scenes in their books. Sometimes they do not decide to do it even where this kind of scenes are needed. I am sure that Agnes Lingas-Loniewska does not belong to the group like this. I think that it is one of her books’ advantage. Thanks to it, the story is very authentic and described in a professional way.

Finishing I would like to add that in my opinion The Sixth is the perfect thriller which should be filmed one day. I hope it will happen soon. You must know that The Sixth is not the only book of Agnes Lingas-Loniewska. The author is very talented and she releases the new book in short periods of time. So, I hope that one day someone will translate each of her novel into English.