Priceless

I heard an interview with the author on the radio and that\’s why I decided to download this book. Robert Wittman was an engaging guest with a unique accent, discussing a world most of us are not privy to. I think the format of the book and the stories themselves were interesting and what you would expect after reading the description. However, the narrator gave a bland, monotone reading of the book. His attempts at accents were okay at best. There was little variation in expression, which made it difficult to focus on the story… my mind would wander a bit thinking about art or some tangent and I would have to \”rewind\” my iPod. I would recommend reading the book instead of listening to this rendition. 13 people found this helpful

A while back, I saw this book here while browsing, looked interesting (and I liked the sample), so dropped a credit on it; my library continues to have a long hold queue for the print version, which also influenced that decision. I liked that the author didn\’t spend a long time on his background, getting to his FBI career fairly quickly. The accident that killed his first(?) partner takes up a fair amount of time, but can\’t really be ignored as the aftermath dragged on for years; moreover, it spurred him to take an interest in art, awaiting a resolution. The stories were interesting, though they dragged in places, partly from his tone of self-congratulation … he\’s far from modest! I came away feeling that Wittman had mixed motives in putting out the book, both to emphasize the importance of art crime cases, as well as to air a grudge against the Bureau\’s frustrating bureaucracy (Fred-in-Boston, he\’s looking at you!). Would I recommend it? Yes, but … I don\’t think I\’d go the audio route again. Not to knock the narration at all, but there were a couple of places I just had to fast-forward through, which rarely happens, and that was even after I\’d made the decision to take a break between the two 4-hr parts. Wittman\’s self-important personality got in the way enough to make what should have been a great story \”overall okay\” I\’m afraid. I wish I\’d been able to skim more. 23 people found this helpful

I enjoy most FBI books (even the bad ones) but this is one of the best I\’ve read in a while. This guy really loves art and that adds an extra layer of passion to the story beyond just the standard catching bad guys. I even found most of the bad guys in the story more complicated than the standard mobsters and drug traffickers that populate other FBI books–these guys might be scum, but the mere fact that they deal in art and not cocaine makes them, well, a bit more interesting. I knew nothing about art theft before and learned a lot. Like all FBI books, this one has its share of self-congratulating and whining about bureaucracy, but–on both counts–less so than most other FBI books. Hardly great literature, but a very entertaining read. 9 people found this helpful

I’m convinced that everyone Robert knew kept telling him: “You have such an interesting job! You’ve seen so much! Man, you should write a book!” … and he did just that. 5 people found this helpful

An intriguing story that I just couldn\’t walk away from. I\’m not an art lover, but I\’m now a lover of this book and have recommended it to some friends. 4 people found this helpful

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