We all tell lies, even the stories we tell ourselves about our lives, even in the intimate depths of our private thoughts. But somehow, I don't know how, maybe through what my sister calls grace, these lies occasionally produce something we all recognize as true.

Chaz Wilmot, an artist more gifted than his famous father, more gifted that his contemporaries whose works sell for fortunes, refuses to compromise his gift and so leads a miserable life as a commercial hack. Offered a lucrative job restoring a ceiling in a Venetian palazzo, Chaz reluctantly accepts. With an ex-wife and a desperately sick child, he needs the money. Once there, Chaz finds there's little left to restore --- it's more a "re-creation" than a restoration --- but he does the job brilliantly, so well that it leads to other opportunities which he finds impossible to resist. But this work sets Chaz on the road to madness, and he begins to question his own existence: Is he who he thinks he is? Or is there another Chaz, a man he himself wouldn't recognize? Is he crazy? Or is someone trying to drive him crazy for their own purposes?

Michael Gruber, the New York Times bestselling author of The Book and Air of Shadows, has created an intricately layered, absorbing novel of psychological suspense, a fascinating world of secrets, genius, and conspiracies. Intelligent and fast-paced, The Forgery of Venus cements his reputation as one of the most imaginative and gifted writers of our time.