Sharply observed, fully explored, The Irish Game is a masterpiece in the literature of true crime.
With the storytelling skill of a novelist and the instincts of a detective, Matthew Hart follows the twists and turns of this celebrated case, linking it with two other world-famous thefts-of Vermeer's "The Concert" and other famous paintings at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" at the National Gallery of Norway in Oslo. The Irish Game places the great theft in Ireland's long sad history of violence and follows the thread that led, as a direct result of Cahill's desperate adventures with the Russborough art, to his assassination by the IRA. As if that were not enough, the recovery of the Vermeer-by then worth $200 million-led to a remarkable discovery about the way Vermeer achieved his photographic perspective. The challenge of disposing of such famous works forced him to reach outside his familiar world into the international arena, and when he did, his pursuers were waiting.The movie-perfect sting that broke Cahill uncovered an astonishing maze of banking and drug-dealing connections that redefined the way police view art theft.
Cahill taunted the police with a string of other crimes, but in the end it was the paintings that brought him low. Yet the great plunder -including a Gainsborough, a Goya, two Rubenses, and a Vermeer- remained at large for years. When he did, his pursuers were waiting.With the storytelling skill of a novelist and the nose of a detective, Matthew Hart follows the twists and turns of this celebrated case.For those who might associate museums and lofty works of art with elitism and stuffiness, Hart reveals a far more compelling world filled with desperation and betrayal.” -Nick Owchar, The Los Angeles TimesWhat makes this book so enjoyable is the author's deftness and restraint with what was a big splashy story.In the annals of art theft, no case has matched-for sheer criminal panache-the heist at Ireland's Russborough House in 1986.The Irish police knew right away that the mastermind was a Dublin gangster named Martin Cahill. Yet the great plunder-including a Goya and a Vermeer-remained at large for years until the challenge of disposing of such famous works forced Cahill to reach outside the mob and into the international arena. The Irish police knew right away that the mastermind was a brazen Dublin gangster named Martin Cahill. And a troubled Irish history.In the annals of fine art theft, no case has matched-for sheer criminal panache-the heist at Russborough in 1986. A true-crime tale that includes a priceless Vermeer stolen twice from the same Irish country house, and a father-and-son detective team who recovers the painting 19 years apart.” -David Walton, The Plain DealerFamous paintings.
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