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387th out of 736 books
—
1,256 voters
Michelangelo's Notebook (Finn Ryan #1)
Life may imitate art...but death follows it.
While studying art history at New York University, brilliant and beautiful Finn Ryan makes a startling discovery: a Michelangelo drawing of a dissected corpse-supposedly from the artist's near-mythical notebook. But that very night, someone breaks into her apartment-murdering her boyfriend and stealing the sketches she made of t...more
While studying art history at New York University, brilliant and beautiful Finn Ryan makes a startling discovery: a Michelangelo drawing of a dissected corpse-supposedly from the artist's near-mythical notebook. But that very night, someone breaks into her apartment-murdering her boyfriend and stealing the sketches she made of t...more
Paperback, 368 pages
Published
June 7th 2005
by Onyx
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Nazis, Stolen Art, SS, OSS, New York City Present, Vivid Sex oh and there was also a mystery child, and murders so many murders...
As a College Graduate, with a Germany History background I somehow keep winding up with books like this. I thought it was about Michelangelo, ha fooled was I. Here come the Nazis again.
I actually did enjoy this book, to an extent. It had an overload of characters. I found myself having to go back and re-read sections to figure out who was whom.
Funny I kept telling my...more
As a College Graduate, with a Germany History background I somehow keep winding up with books like this. I thought it was about Michelangelo, ha fooled was I. Here come the Nazis again.
I actually did enjoy this book, to an extent. It had an overload of characters. I found myself having to go back and re-read sections to figure out who was whom.
Funny I kept telling my...more
Finn Ryan is studying art history and scraping by in New York City when she stumbles upon a long-lost mythical Michelangelo drawing. Immediately after finding it, her life changes forever. People around her are murdered violently and someone is after Finn herself – for no reason she can see. She heads to her last resort for safety – a mysterious man named Michael Valentine who she is only supposed to contact in extreme emergencies. Together, they attempt to find out who is behind the murders and...more
Jun 08, 2011
Iko Wahyu P
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
surgically viewer, para penganut arsitektural romanenska
Shelves:
finished-reading
kegodanya karena judulnya michaelangelo's secret..
wow another fiction dari salah satu sejarah 4 seniman kura2 ninja, walau pada awalnya ga ada niat buat ngomparasiinnya sama da vinci code.
to the point; aliran emosi overall lumayan dapet. thrillernya terasa walau terkesan dipancing untuk ngimajinasiinnya sendiri (efek2 kata gelap, asap, dll) walau penasaran bagaimana edisi aslinya sebelum dtranslasi. penggambaran nuansa klasiknya detail dan kita bisa dibuai manis membayangkan setiap lekuk bentuk...more
wow another fiction dari salah satu sejarah 4 seniman kura2 ninja, walau pada awalnya ga ada niat buat ngomparasiinnya sama da vinci code.
to the point; aliran emosi overall lumayan dapet. thrillernya terasa walau terkesan dipancing untuk ngimajinasiinnya sendiri (efek2 kata gelap, asap, dll) walau penasaran bagaimana edisi aslinya sebelum dtranslasi. penggambaran nuansa klasiknya detail dan kita bisa dibuai manis membayangkan setiap lekuk bentuk...more
The novel wasn't bad. Certainly not as bad as some of the reviews, but there were a few cheesy lines and gratuitous sexual comments designed for cheap book promotion. Most of the novel was based on the simple thriller strategy of Eric Ambler of an ordinary main character in an extraordinary situation. Finn, a beautiful 24 year-old art student is the "ordinary" character from Ohio in this novel. She finds herself being hunted after discovering a sketch at the art gallery she works at that is not...more
I liked the quick pace style of this book, however I found the chapter changes between past and present to be a bit confusing. I think the point was to reveal to the reader the origin of the mystery that is being discovered in present day by introducing us to the characters that started it all but there wasn't any kind of date or time referenced at the beginning of those "jump back in time" chapters that it sometimes fell flat. There was also a big build up of this boy child that the Vatican was...more
Boobies boobies boobies dead body dead body boobies dead body boobies boobies.
There, I just summed up the fist 100 or so pages for you. Moving on...
Basically this book follows Dan Brown's formula of attractive hero/heroine + art mystery = $$$. Except this is an even lamer version of Dan Brown. As a matter of fact, a character in this book even comments on page 304 (of my copy at least) that this is "getting into Dan Brown territory" or some variation of that quote.
Which makes me wonder, first Br...more
There, I just summed up the fist 100 or so pages for you. Moving on...
Basically this book follows Dan Brown's formula of attractive hero/heroine + art mystery = $$$. Except this is an even lamer version of Dan Brown. As a matter of fact, a character in this book even comments on page 304 (of my copy at least) that this is "getting into Dan Brown territory" or some variation of that quote.
Which makes me wonder, first Br...more
The book was surprisingly a good read and hard to put down. The plot was interesting and the way the chapters always jumped to another part of the story kept me turning the page.
However, I must say the ending was a disappointment. It got to 95% completed in my kindle, but the story, to me, was still about 60% completed only. So once it actually got to the end, it was a complete rush and a great big ''oh! Thats it?!''.
After completing his second and third book, I started to think about why the st...more
However, I must say the ending was a disappointment. It got to 95% completed in my kindle, but the story, to me, was still about 60% completed only. So once it actually got to the end, it was a complete rush and a great big ''oh! Thats it?!''.
After completing his second and third book, I started to think about why the st...more
Oy! I think I could picture the entire scene, including every inconsequential charachter, at every two-minute stop in this book--and that isn't a good thing. Thank goodness the story line dragged me through the description of cop number two's-- that will be in two pages of the book and no more--slightly stringy, hairless, farmer tanned, left arm. I wish Paul Christopher would just stick to the plot because that in itself was very, very good. Oh yeah, and he could replace some of those pages and...more
Strikingly beautiful art-history student who moonlights as a nude model (of course) stumbles upon thought-long-lost page of legendary (heretical) anatomical drawings of Michelangelo, leads to chain reaction of murders, drama, intrigue about connections between the Gold Train, six trucks of looted art taken by the Nazis, the Vatican, a WWII unit of soldiers, art theft in the modern world, etc. A quick read, seems written for easy turnover to Hollywood screenplay. End wholly-predictable. Was good...more
A young art student,Finn Ryan, is working at inventorying the stored collection of artwork at the Parker-Hale museum in New York City. While doing the job she stumbles across an apparent piece of art work torn from the mythical notebook of Michelangelo. She takes a photo of the piece on her phone before being discovered by the museum's curator, Alex Crawley. When confronted about finding the page Finn's internship is terminated after she disagrees with Crawley about who drew the picture.
Stunned...more
Stunned...more
I debated whether or not to give this book four stars, but decided that three would be enough. It had some intersecting chapters that went back to WWII--so it would have
been a shorter book without them. Finn Ryan, an attractive red haired
grad student, discovers a page from Michelangelo's Notebook, and shortly
thereafter, her boyfriend and boss are killed. She teams up with another
art expert to find out why. There are several other deaths, and much
excitement before the end. Interesting, and en...more
been a shorter book without them. Finn Ryan, an attractive red haired
grad student, discovers a page from Michelangelo's Notebook, and shortly
thereafter, her boyfriend and boss are killed. She teams up with another
art expert to find out why. There are several other deaths, and much
excitement before the end. Interesting, and en...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Pasca penerbitan Davinci Code, novel-novel yang melibatkan keimanan terutama yang menyangkut gereja katolik mulai banyak masuk pasar buku. Salah satunya novel ini.
Lukisan.Pembunuhan.Pengejaran.Diawali oleh penemuan lukisan michelangelo yang asli secara tak sengaja oleh Finn Ryan. korban pun berjatuhan satu persatu. Ryan pun tak luput sebagai target berikutnya, namun dalam keadaan genting ia berlindung kepada michael valentine,ahli seni juga. dan melakukan investigasi, yang membawa mereka ke masa...more
Lukisan.Pembunuhan.Pengejaran.Diawali oleh penemuan lukisan michelangelo yang asli secara tak sengaja oleh Finn Ryan. korban pun berjatuhan satu persatu. Ryan pun tak luput sebagai target berikutnya, namun dalam keadaan genting ia berlindung kepada michael valentine,ahli seni juga. dan melakukan investigasi, yang membawa mereka ke masa...more
Meh
Awal cerita buku ini sangatlah sederhana, yaitu munculnya sepotong keberuntungan yang seharusnya membawa kebahagiaan namun ternyata justru menjerumuskan sang tokoh ke dalam sebuah petaka yang tak ada ujungnya.
Petualangan bola petaka mulai bergulir saat sang tokoh cerita tiba-tiba disapa oleh Dewi Fortuna. Mulanya sang tokoh, Finn Ryan, mahasiswi sejarah New York University, merasa seperti benar-benar menemukan sang Dewi Fortuna saat tanpa sengaja ia menemukan gambar jasad wanita terpotong-poton...more
Petualangan bola petaka mulai bergulir saat sang tokoh cerita tiba-tiba disapa oleh Dewi Fortuna. Mulanya sang tokoh, Finn Ryan, mahasiswi sejarah New York University, merasa seperti benar-benar menemukan sang Dewi Fortuna saat tanpa sengaja ia menemukan gambar jasad wanita terpotong-poton...more
Changed my rating after thinking about this a while. This is two plots unrealistically linked. Way too many holes in the story. Would have been better dropping one plot. Also, title is misleading. This has nothing to do with Michelangelo's Notebook. That would have been an interesting story. This should have been titled "Conspiracy that stole Nazi stolen art work with pope's illegitimate son vaguely worked into plot"
This one left me a lot unfulfilled. The ending sucked. It seemed that instead of a satisfying finish, the author appeared to be on a deadline and felt that tossing together an ending as quickly and haphazardly was the best answer. Not!
I think the characters were flat and all the jumping around made it confusing and hard to follow.
In the end the author rushed his way through the entire book, tossing too much stuff at you without making the effort to tell a good tale.
PS: It got 2 stars instead of...more
MICHELANGELO'S NOTEBOOK (Amateur Sleuth-NYC/Germany-Cont/WWII) – NR
Christopher, Paul (aka Christopher Hyde) – 1st under pseudonym
Onyx, 2005-Paperback
Art history student, Finn Ryan, comes across a drawing she is certain came from the lost notebook of Michelangelo. When she confronts her boss, he fires her. She and her boyfriend are attacked in her apartment and he is murdered. Finn calls a number given to her by her mother for emergencies, and is brought to Michael Valentine, a mysterious book de...more
Christopher, Paul (aka Christopher Hyde) – 1st under pseudonym
Onyx, 2005-Paperback
Art history student, Finn Ryan, comes across a drawing she is certain came from the lost notebook of Michelangelo. When she confronts her boss, he fires her. She and her boyfriend are attacked in her apartment and he is murdered. Finn calls a number given to her by her mother for emergencies, and is brought to Michael Valentine, a mysterious book de...more
A great intro book to Finn Ryan and her character. i thoroughly enjoyed this my first Paul Christopher novel, although the premise was a little... shall I say, weak? I expected some grand Dan Brownsian adventure with information hidden in the notebook, but was left slightly.... unsure of how I felt about it all.
Christopher has built an interesting base on which Ryan can build and I hope she does, as red heads always have intrigued me.
Christopher has built an interesting base on which Ryan can build and I hope she does, as red heads always have intrigued me.
Overall I liked the premise, but the execution of believable relationships didn't quite live up to my expecations, but this is a novel written by a man, so I think it might be that "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" thing. LOL
I will continue to read other Paul Christopher novels as he seems to think up historical connections that may be plausible.
I will continue to read other Paul Christopher novels as he seems to think up historical connections that may be plausible.
A good yarn, somewhat loose jointed and connected. Loved the links to looted art, and the Nazis. The author interspersed the modern tail with the wartime story. I had problems with how quickly the murderer moved his locations, and was never quite sure which side tried to kill the heroine. A good beach read.
The author mentions...FOUR TIMES...a graveyard in New York in which Poe was said to "ramble" late at night. FOUR TIMES and the observation is not relevant to the story nor does it move the action along! All it did was frustrate me.
Story was average with a nod to the Da Vinci Code.
Story was average with a nod to the Da Vinci Code.
To my fellow historical thriller lovers, please do not pick this book after reading the synopsis on the back cover. It is all a lie to seduce you into the trap of art history hell.
Christopher Hyde tried his luck at being in the same league as Dan Brown, James Rollins and others. But this book failed him miserably.
If you are reading this review before reading the book, Please do not read it, if you value your time and energy.
Christopher Hyde tried his luck at being in the same league as Dan Brown, James Rollins and others. But this book failed him miserably.
If you are reading this review before reading the book, Please do not read it, if you value your time and energy.
ehh, it was what I expected. It was good for an adventure, I did a lot of it in a plane. The story moved well enough, the art angle was the best part, the characters were a bit weak. Finn, the female, was too simple. I will probably read the others in the series, it is just entertainment...
Very good. It is very much like a Dan Brown novel but I enjoyed this more. It is a much easier read than Dan Brown and he didn't get his character into an unbelievable fix like surviving a nuclear explosion. I recommend it and will be reading more of his books.
enjoyed this book even though just another di vinci type story
Finn the heroine whilst working find a scrap of paper which is thought to be from michelangelo's book hence the title which then starts a chain reaction of events. first her boss is killed then her boyfriend
next on list is finn and so the action goes
Finn the heroine whilst working find a scrap of paper which is thought to be from michelangelo's book hence the title which then starts a chain reaction of events. first her boss is killed then her boyfriend
next on list is finn and so the action goes
Dec 16, 2009
aZz
is currently reading it
bercerita ttg mahasiswa jurusan seni yg menemukan gmbr jasad wanita terpotong2 guratan michael angelo. sejak menemukan gmbr tsb hidupnya dalam ketakutan yg kmudian menyeretnya dalam konspirasi mematikan.
Hmm,, jd penasaran ingin cpt2 menyelesaikan bk ini...
Hmm,, jd penasaran ingin cpt2 menyelesaikan bk ini...
Aug 05, 2011
Wendy Kobylarz
added it
hahaha, see my review of Rembrandt's Ghost for this one -- that review was meant for the first book in the series. Apparently highly memorable. ;) at the time of this writing, I've only read the first three, and found the first to be the best.
An interesting take of bringing art hostory to the mystery world. Although I had taken art history courses all the way through high school and college I was still unfamiliar with quite a few of the artists depicted in here.
Tried really hard to be like one of Dan Brown's novels, BUT there were so many names and places and characters that it was impossible to keep up with the story line. It kept me reading but I would not suggest it to anyone.
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Paul Christopher is a pseudonym used by the Author Christopher Hyde
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Jan 03, 2013 02:04pm