Wittman, the founder of the FBI’s Art Crime Team, has some seriously fascinating stories to tell. Although he dismisses the film portrayals of art crime as glamorous or exciting as incorrect, nothing in his book dispels the fact that art crime (and stolen art hunting) is like no other aspect of law enforcement. Wittman may not be hunting characters straight out of National Treasure or The Thomas Crown Affair, but he was hunting works of art worth tens of millions of dollars and going undercover to associate with some shady characters in order to arrange SWAT-style take downs in foreign hotel rooms.

There’s no argument that Wittman has been involved in some of the most fascinating art crime cases in the past several decades and I love his behind-the-scenes stories in the recoveries of several major works. Despite how much I enjoyed the book as a whole, I thought it had some uneven points. First, it was hard to establish the chronology of his cases. This may have been intentional, but it could be confusing and disorienting. Second, Wittman seemed to want to inject some personal anecdotes about his family and background into the text, but they appear so randomly as to be surprising and stilted when they do. I think it would have served the text well for Wittman to have expanded more thoroughly on his family and other personal experiences in order to avoid his somewhat one-dimensional portrayal.

I still heartily recommend this book, and didn’t put it down for several hours in order to finish. For an art buff or art history major or anyone with a passing familiarity or interest, this book would be a clear hit. It’s a light, fun, suspenseful read and perfect for a bit of entertainment if you’ve been bogged down in heavy novels recently.