Grace D. Li's Portrait of a Thief
I’m pretty much here for a novel about five Chinese-American students (well, four students and one student-aged Google employee) plotting a heist to steal back looted Chinese art. I did wish the writing was slightly subtler, though I of course enjoyed the several descriptions of Durham and its skies (two of the characters are Duke students and the author is an alum, something I correctly guessed after reading a rhapsodic description of the lights at Brightleaf). But there's just too much of that sort of description—it bogs the story down. Like, start HEISTING, already. Plus, we spend so much time (too much time) in the (melodramatic) interior lives of these characters, and yet I didn’t a hundred percent buy that any of them would be willing to commit a felony, no matter what money or morals were involved. I will say that Netflix has already optioned this and it will make for a very fun miniseries, it has a very cinematic feel. I just wished it was tighter. B.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on April 5th.
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