Loot

Rating:
Summary: A search for war booty
Review: "So, if my song you'll 'ear, I will learn you plain an' clear, 'ow to pay yourself for fightin' overtime" (from Rudyard Kipling's "Loot"). For as long as wars have been fought, invading armies have looted the countryside. It was one of the perquisites of the common soldier. During World War II, the German government systematically looted conquered territories, taking valuable artwork back to Germany. In the confusion during the closing days of the war, a truckload of valuable paintings vanishes, but an inventory of the truck's contents remains in the German records.

Benjamin Revere is an art expert living in Boston. Over 50 years have passed, and one of the missing paintings has just shown up in a Boston pawn shop. When the pawn shop owner is killed, Ben is drawn into the investigation. The case seems at a dead end until a companion painting shows up in Austria in the hands of a shady Hungarian. When Ben is contacted by an Austrian count, who claims to be the son of the original owner of the painting, Ben leaves home to travel to Austria, Russia, and Hungary to track down information.

The case is complicated when people come out of the woodwork with competing claims for the Boston painting (estimated value of over $5 million). A trail of dead bodies develops when people associated with the paintings are murdered. It becomes an interesting case of intrigue as Ben tracks down the paintings, with some surprising revelations. There are some comments on different countries' attitudes relating to the ownership of looted art, including references to the Elgin marbles now in England.

Rating:
Summary: Buried Treasure
Review: Aaron Elkins does not write the most beautiful, or the funniest or the most suspenseful mysteries around. He doesn't clutter his prose with useless words, hoping to show you how smart he is. He doesn't write characters with an aim toward showcasing his knowledge or research. Instead, he is like a hardworking craftsman, turning out solid, well-written books over and over again. These are books you can count on to entertain, to divert, to engage the reader for a period of time and leave him with a pleasant memory. Like a good sturdy shelf in the garage, these are books that you will not gush over to guests, but you will count on them again and again, without a lot of thought. "Loot" is just such a novel.

This is the first of Elkins' books to feature art expert Benjamin Revere from Boston. Revere is not his original name, just the name an immigration official gave his grandfather when the real name was too hard to pronounce, but the new name gives him a nice ring of credibility in the art world. Ben becomes embroiled in a world-hopping search for a killer when a supposedly lost painting appears in the pawn shop of a friend. The painting gets the friend killed; Ben is badly beaten and sets out to discover the truth and bring the killer to justice.

Along the way we learn a little art history, get to know a bit about Nazi looting during World War II and are treated to a good-sized dose of Aaron Elkins' trademark wit. It's a fun romp through Eastern Europe and the mystery itself is engaging enough to keep the reader interested, if not on the edge of his seat.

One thing I had trouble with was Ben's relationship with Alex, the grandniece of his friend, Simeon, the murdered pawnshop owner. Both Ben and Alex appear to be carrying a lot of baggage around, along with a sizable chip on each shoulder, so their time together acts as an irritant, rather than a slowly warming love story. When they finally do get together (oh, stop it. I'm not giving anything away here)it is unbelievable and, for this reader, distressing, since we know that, without the benefit of years of therapy, these two will eventually nag each other into early graves.

Revere himself is a likeable guy and Elkins takes pains to write him as a regular, unpretentious joe who doesn't get sucked into snootiness, even though a jets around the world like he was grabbing a crosstown bus and earns a thousand a day in consulting fees (sometimes). But I have to wonder where it will stop - Elkins now has four potential series' going now, with the Gideon Oliver, Chris Norgren, Ben and Lee Ofstead, about whom he writes with his wife, Charlotte. Lordy. And some people are lucky to keep one series going.

Nonetheless, I guarantee I've never read an Elkins book I didn't like, no matter who the protagonist was.

Rating:
Summary: Not a departure for Elkins, despite different marketing
Review: Aaron Elkins has always been an uneasy fit in the mystery genre where his books about "Bone Detective" Gideon Oliver have been pigeonholed. His books are more adventures than mysteries, and the mystery elements tend to seem like plot twists rather than clues. Loot, starring new Elkins protagonist Ben Revere, is marketed as a thriller, which I suppose makes as much sense as mystery does for the kind of book Elkins writes. But make no mistake - despite the change in marketing strategy, this is a vintage Elkins work, much of a piece with his Chris Norgren art "mysteries."

When I say that Loot is much like Elkins's other work, that is a recommendation. Elkins's writing style is wonderful: knowing without being jaded, cynical without being downbeat, and full of amusing and telling details. When I read his Gideon Oliver mysteries, I end up wishing I were an anthropologist; when I read his Chris Norgren mysteries, I end up wishing I were a curator in a fine arts museum. Finishing Loot, I found myself caught up in the hero's quest to repatriate art stolen during World War II. I keep hoping that he will one day spawn a host of Elkins imitators I can read, but until then, you can only get the Elkins style from Elkins.

Rating:
Summary: Not a departure for Elkins, despite different marketing
Review: Aaron Elkins has always been an uneasy fit in the mystery genre where his books about "Bone Detective" Gideon Oliver have been pigeonholed. His books are more adventures than mysteries, and the mystery elements tend to seem like plot twists rather than clues. Loot, starring new Elkins protagonist Ben Revere, is marketed as a thriller, which I suppose makes as much sense as mystery does for the kind of book Elkins writes. But make no mistake - despite the change in marketing strategy, this is a vintage Elkins work, much of a piece with his Chris Norgren art "mysteries."

When I say that Loot is much like Elkins's other work, that is a recommendation. Elkins's writing style is wonderful: knowing without being jaded, cynical without being downbeat, and full of amusing and telling details. When I read his Gideon Oliver mysteries, I end up wishing I were an anthropologist; when I read his Chris Norgren mysteries, I end up wishing I were a curator in a fine arts museum. Finishing Loot, I found myself caught up in the hero's quest to repatriate art stolen during World War II. I keep hoping that he will one day spawn a host of Elkins imitators I can read, but until then, you can only get the Elkins style from Elkins.

Rating:
Summary: International Art Espionage
Review: Aaron Elkins has broadened his horizons and introduced another character, Ben Revere, into the literary fray.

Ben is a professor of art with no ambition in life, that is until his friend Simeon the pawnbroker receives a Velazquez painting and is then murdered for it.

Thus begins the search for a horde of master paintings taken by the Germans during World War II. Ben travels throughout Austria, Hungary and Russia to come up with clues as why his friend was murdered and to the whereabouts of the "lost shipment" of 106 paintings that this Velazquez was a part of. Along the way Ben comes up against the Russian and Austrian mafia and things really start heating up.

This is an exciting thriller that I know you will enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Good Summer Read
Review: Fabulous old masters looted by the Nazis during World War II start to surface after 50 years, followed by a series of murders. Smack in the middle of this is Ben Rever, part time "art cop". Through a number of twist and turns leading Revere from his home in Boston to Vienna, Budapest and St. Petersburg, the story unfolds fast.

Write Elkins does a skillful job of creating memorable and believable characters. His descriptions of the European cities and their various inhabitants are especially appealing. In fact, some of his character descriptions had me laughing aloud.

While not a great work of literature, it kept my interest all the way through. I will definitely seek out more books by Elkins.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been better developed
Review: I enjoy a good well-rounded historical mystery and I had high hopes when I bought this book, but it just didn't develop. The story revolves around the fate of some missing paintings that were looted by the Nazis during the war and around the murder of a Boston pawnshop dealer. Ben Revere is a former curator who travels around the world in order to solve the mysteries. The story flowed well and was an easy read, but the main character, Ben, was hardly developed- I just did not feel a connection with the character.

The secondary character, Alex, was better developed in some areas then Ben was and so was one of his buyers, Count Stetten. The mystery also got complicated in some areas and glossed over in others. There were also some loose ends left at the end and I hate loose ends in a mystery novel! Overall, this is not a bad book, but it is no Agatha Christie.

Rating:
Summary: Fun, Insightful Read
Review: I have always been drawn toward novels with some sort of historical theme. Aaron Elkins' "Loot" which is about missing paintings, that were looted during World War II. The book starts with a quick history lesson then jumps to present day were one of the missing paintings shows up in a Boston pawnshop. A series of murders send main character Ben Revere, an art expert on a chase to find the killers plus the rightful owners of the precious works.

Revere ends up running all over Europe, and Elkins descriptions of cities like Vienna and St. Petersburg make you feel like you have been there. The story is paced well and all of the characters are well rounded, almost too well rounded in the case of Revere. Revere is a true fence sitter, and at times his wishy-washy attitude was a little over the top.

In total Elkins does deliver a fine job keeping the reader engaged with a fine mix of action and informative data. Elkins invokes some thought provoking questions. Is looting works of art during wartime a necessary evil, to keep the works from being destroyed? Overall a very well done and enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: art historian at his best
Review: My wife and I have read most of Aaron Elkins works, but he in general would not be included on our "favorite mystery writer" list. This book, however, is awesome. Loot combines just the right amount of romance, action, odd characters, and plot twists. Additionally, the factual art history that Elkins weaves into the story is tasty icing on the cake.

Rating:
Summary: Puzzler
Review: Well crafted story of art historical sleuthing among treasures stolen during the Holocaust, with good bits of East European travelogue and flashes of convincing art appreciation. There's a clever puzzle here, and the clues are artfully concealed through a slow first two-thirds, where I thought I was ahead of the diffident hero, until the rapid conclusion showed it was the author way out in front.

Elkins' stories feel sanitized, rational and distanced, despite the macabre subjects and multiple corpses; perhaps he's hiding behind his scientist training. Here suspense and thrills are muted by an introspective, insistently aimless hero, whose angst is undercut by flippant lines, and discordant asides to the reader. There is no real fear--the hero seems unengaged in his own story. Murders happen, to stir the plot and occasion talk about it, the unprofessionally garrulous polizei joining in with our sleuth. The shy hero's character development to self-realization is unconvincing; it needs pointing out by his girlfriend. This is light reading on sad subjects, highlighted by the author's provocative presentation of the "ethics" of looting.