Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Master Thieves

The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
In a secret meeting in 1981, a master thief named Louis Royce gave career gangster Ralph Rossetti the tip of a lifetime. As a kid, Royce had visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and made a habit of sneaking in at night to find a good place to sleep. He knew the Museum's security was lax, and he gave this information to a boss of the Boston criminal underworld.


It took years before the Museum was hit. But when it finally happened, it quickly became one of the most infamous art heists in history: thirteen works of art valued at up to $500 million—including Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee." The identity of the thieves was a mystery, and the paintings were never found.


What happened in those intervening years? Which Boston crew landed the big score? And why, more than twenty years later, did the FBI issue a press conference stating that they knew who had pulled off the heist and what had happened to the artwork, but provided no identities and scant details?
These mysteries are the story of Stephen Kurkjian's revealing book. He will take the listener deep into the Boston mob and paint the most complete and compelling picture of this story ever told.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The 13 artworks by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and other masters stolen in 1990 are still missing from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The author writes about 20 years of looking into this "uniquely Boston" case. Mike Chamberlain narrates Kurkjian's keen descriptions and observations with a comfortable feel. Rather than the excitement of an investigation, his narration gives listeners a feeling of the day-to-day aspects of being inside the case. Listeners will start to feel they know everyone--from the security guards who were on duty to the detectives and the Mob figures who've joined the investigation. "Boston's last best secret" doesn't get answered, but Chamberlain brings listeners in on the workings of the city. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading