#Review - Fake by Erica Katz #Contemporary #Thriller

Series: Standalone
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: February 22, 2022
Publisher: Harper
Source: Publisher
Genre: Contemporary / Thriller

Can you spot the difference? 

Emma Caan is a fake. 

She’s a forger, an artist who specializes in nineteenth-century paintings. But she isn’t a criminal; her copies are commissioned by museums and ultra-wealthy collectors protecting their investments. Emma’s more than mastered a Gauguin brushstroke and a van Gogh wheat field, but her work is sometimes a painful reminder of the artistic dreams she once chased for herself, when she was younger and before her family and her world fell apart. 

When oligarch art collector Leonard Sobetsky unexpectedly appears with an invitation, Emma sees a way out—a new job, a new path for herself, and access to the kind of money she needs to support her unstable and recently widowed mother. 

But every invitation incurs an obligation . . . and Emma isn’t prepared for what’s to come. As she’s pulled further into Leonard’s opulent scene, she will discover what’s lurking beneath the glitz and glamour. When she does, the past she’s worked hard to overcome will collide with the present, making her wonder how much of her carefully curated life is just as fake as her forgeries . . .

From the author of The Boys’ Club, a gripping novel set in the high-stakes world of art forgery that moves across the globe, from the trendy art galleries of Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood to the high-flying international art fairs of Hong Kong. 26-year-old Emma Caan produces handmaid copies of priceless artwork. She isn’t a criminal. Copying is not forging. Her copies of 19th century paintings have been commissioned by museums and ultra-wealthy collectors protecting their investments. 

Emma has more than mastered a Gauguin brushstroke and a van Gogh wheat field, but her work is sometimes a painful reminder of the artistic dreams she once chased for herself, when she was younger and before her family and her world fell apart. So, when Emma, a Yale Art Major, and employee of Gemini Productions which is under investigation, catches the eyes of a rich Russian named Leonard Sobetsky who asks for Emma by name, she finds herself in an whole new world.

Then she lands a dream job as Assistant Director at Florence Wake Gallery, a prestigious gallery in New York which creates modern artworks which she previously sent her own works to and was rejected by the owner. When said owner sends her off to Hong Kong where she will be the face of Florence Wake, she gets entangled in a world of galleries and art exhibitions, art auctions, and crazy rich parties. It's also one of drug-trafficking, money laundering, and tax fraud.

Meanwhile, Emma continues taking on new works for Leonard, and becoming friends with an Instagram influencer named Just Jules. She tries to juggle a new career which she really has to play a guessing game as to how much to sell a painting for, to a the world of Instagram where having millions of followers and posting what they may like, is exhausting and taxing. After she's allowed a peak behind the curtain she starts to realize more about this world is fake than just her forgeries. She also has an honest fear of fire having watched her father and his mistress nearly die in one. 

Overall, Fake was a decent story. A glimpse into the world of forging, and those who sell forgeries to millions while keeping secret inventories in locations where the authorities have no access to. At the beginning of each chapters, except towards the ending, Emma is being asked questions by two FBI agents. This addition gives readers a heads up as to where this story is going, and sorry, probably a spoiler, where it might end if Emma is able to survive the crap that is going to splatter back on her for her participation in key events. 

This book is hard to put into a category. It is set in the contemporary world where the author has person political leanings. It isn't so much of a mystery, as it is suspenseful to see if Emma will end up caught in a quagmire. The ending is a bit rushed, but it doesn't leave an open ended question as to what happens next. Readers can pretty much guess what happens next.

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