The Forgery of Venus by Michael Gruber (2008, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

This literary thriller incorporates a wealth of details about art history, aesthetics and art fraud into the story of an American painter who may or may not have gone mad. The result is an absorbing look at the creative process and an entertaining examination of the blurry line between art and forgery.

Chaz Wilmot, Jr., the son of an artist who sold out and turned commercial, has far more talent than his father, but it is mostly untapped. He participates in a drug study and is left with extended flashbacks in which he finds himself living in 17th Century Spain as Diego Velazquez. While in and out of these fugue states, Wilmot is capable of producing pictures which in every way are indistinguishable from the creations of Velazquez. This gains him a wealthy patron and extraordinarily profitable commissions. But is he producing art, art forgeries, or nothing at all? Is his sponsor a collector or Wilmot’s psychiatrist in a mental hospital? Author Michael Gruber lets readers choose their own answer, demonstrating the personal nature of truth. As reader, Eric Conger provides only subtle character differentiation, but his reading is intelligently expressive and his pacing is excellent.