I am excited to announce the release tomorrow on Amazon Kindle of the new international thriller, The Russian van Gogh. I began writing the book last June with the question which became the premise - what if the masterpiece considered the most valuable painting lost during WWII, The Painter on the Road to Tarascon by Vincent van Gogh actually wasn't lost at all.

What if instead the Russians and the Red Army Trophy Brigade pulled off the most daring art heist in history and seized the priceless van Gogh just before the German museum where it resided was destroyed. Rumors to this effect circulate today and the fate of the painting remains a mystery.

The Russian van Gogh takes this premise and runs with it. The secret Russian government warehouse where the van Gogh now resides is breached by a Chechen terrorist and criminal mastermind who has a score to settle with Vladimir Putin in a grudge that goes back to the Russian - Afghan War.

With the terrorist's demand of ransom the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam enlists the help of the British Intelligence Service, MI6 and the Monuments Men Foundation - experts in stolen WWII cultural artifact recovery to secure the painting.

The Painter on the Road to Tarascon

The Monuments Men turn to the world's leading expert on the paintings of van Gogh, Harvard-based forensic art detective, Dr. Riley Spenser. Spenser an attractive female professor on the verge of receiving tenure at the hallowed institution must decide whether to give up everything she's worked for to help find what has now become the world's most expensive van Gogh valued at more than $300 Million dollars.