The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

This story of French thief Stéphane Breitwieser's unmatched eight-year crime spree almost defies belief. In his meticulously researched tale, Finkel lays out how and why Breitwieser carried out more than 200 thefts of fine art worth over a billion dollars from 1994 to 2001, nabbing works from museums and galleries in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. This was interesting, if not exactly emotionally resonant. In fact, the bit that intrigued me most was Finkel's almost passing reference to how Breitwieser has more in common with bibliomaniacs than with his fellow art thiefs—I would have loved to have heard more about that! I listened to the audio version, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. 5 hours 39 minutes.