Portrait of a Thief
A Novel
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3.7 • 79 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An Edgar Award Nominee for Best First Novel
Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize
Named a New York Times Best Crime Novel of 2022
Named A Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Washington Post* *Vulture* *NBC News* *Buzzfeed* *Veranda* *PopSugar* *Paste* *The Millions* *Bustle* *Crimereads* Goodreads* *Bookbub* *Boston.com* and more!
"The thefts are engaging and surprising, and the narrative brims with international intrigue. Li, however, has delivered more than a straight thriller here, especially in the parts that depict the despair Will and his pals feel at being displaced, overlooked, underestimated, and discriminated against. This is as much a novel as a reckoning."
—New York Times Book Review
Ocean's Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents' American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they've cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they've dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary critique of the lingering effects of colonialism.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Li debuts with an intriguing if uneven twist on the heist genre. Harvard art history student Will Chen witnesses a brazen smash-and-grab at his school's museum; the thieves make off with objects that were themselves stolen from China centuries before. In the chaos, Will pockets a jade figure. One of the thieves spies his move, calling it a "nice lift," and slips him the business card of a Chinese business mogul, Wang Yuling, who later recruits Will into the world of art theft. Will soon assembles a group of Chinese Americans in their early 20s, including his younger sister, Irene; and Daniel Liang, who grew up in Beijing and comes primed with knowledge gleaned from his art thief–busting father, who works for the FBI. The inexperienced team agrees to steal five Chinese zodiac fountainhead pieces in exchange for $50 million from Yuling. The first heist, in Sweden, is a success, but during the second theft in France, competition arises when another gang gets to the target first. Li smartly focuses on the bonds created in the group over their shared Chinese roots, though occasionally floundering prose ("The night was dark as an oil spill") tends to pockmark the page. Like a popcorn movie, this is best enjoyed with a hearty suspension of disbelief.
Customer Reviews
Portrait of a Thief
Enjoyable, interesting and different from most mysteries. The Chinese diaspora experience in America seems very authentic Lu presented.
Loved the Idea
I was so excited when I first heard about this book. A story about reclaiming stolen art and exploring one’s own identity. But it just didn’t deliver. The heists lacked detail and were unbelievable. And the love stories seemed to come out of nowhere. It was hard to stay engaged with the story but it was good enough that I read the entire book.