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Artist Channels 17th Century Spanish Virtuoso

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By KEVIN WALKER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 25, 2008

"The Forgery of Venus," by Michael Gruber (William Morrow, $25)
Chaz Wilmot is having difficulties with his memory. Actually, it's far worse than that for the New York City artist. Not only does his memory seem to be malfunctioning, but he's also having memories that seem to belong to someone else. That someone else is Diego Velazquez, the great master of painting who lived in 17th century Spain. It's a problem.

Things only get worse for Wilmot when he is asked by a former Nazi to forge a painting that will be marketed as a painting by Velazquez. Wilmot is forced into doing it, but that doesn't explain how he has passed three months inside the head of Velazquez, painting in 17th century Spain.

Is the drug Wilmot taking allowing him to time travel? Or is he part of an elaborate conspiracy designed to make money via forged paintings? Or both? And why are his wife and kids acting so strange?

These sort of unnerving questions run throughout this novel. Wilmot is the most unworthy of narrators (a fictional device that - one hoped - had reached its modern peak with Chuck Palahniuk's "Fight Club"). But Michael Gruber even takes that to extremes, giving us a finale in which the excitement level is high because we don't know who, if anyone, to trust, including Wilmot.

It's a satisfying conclusion, but one that will leave readers debating the morality of Wilmot's final decision.

Added bonus: You'll learn a lot about Velazquez in specific and painting in general.
Kevin Walker is a reporter for the Tribune and

TBO.com.

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