The Gardner Heist, Ulrich Boser
The Gardner Heist, Ulrich Boser
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The Gardner Heist
The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft

Author: Ulrich Boser

Narrator: Stephen Graybill

Unabridged: 8 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/21/2018

Synopsis

Shortly after midnight on March 18, 1990, two men broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and committed the largest art heist in history. They stole a dozen masterpieces, including one Vermeer, three Rembrandts, and five Degas. But after thousands of leads—and a $5 million reward—none of the paintings have been recovered. Worth as much as $500 million, the missing masterpieces have become one of the nation’s most extraordinary unsolved mysteries.After the death of famed art detective Harold Smith, reporter Ulrich Boser decided to take up the case. Exploring Smith’s unfinished leads, Boser travels deep into the art underworld and comes across a remarkable cast of characters, including a brilliant rock ‘n’ roll thief, a gangster who professes his innocence in rhyming verse, and the enigmatic late Boston heiress Isabella Stewart Gardner herself. Boser becomes increasingly obsessed with the case and eventually uncovers startling new evidence about the identities of the thieves. A tale of art and greed, of obsession and loss, The Gardner Heist is as compelling as the stolen masterpieces themselves.

About Ulrich Boser

Ulrich Boser is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where he writes about social issues. Prior to joining CAP, he was a contributing editor for US News & World Report and research director at Education Week. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. He is the author of The Leap and The Gardner Heist, a Boston Globe bestseller. 

About Stephen Graybill

Stephen Graybill is an actor, producer, and award-winning voice-over artist. He was seen on television in The Girls Guide to Depravity, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order, and HBO’s The Wire. He has also acted on stage and done voice-overs for commercials, winning both a Gold Clio Award and a Silver Effie Award. He has also worked on over fifty audiobooks, including Jesus Swagger by Jarrid Wilson.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ulrich on December 31, 2009

I'm the author of this book and thus ill-suited to write a review. That said, I do think the book is a good, engaging read, and reviewers have been agreeing with me. “Boser has produced a captivating portrait of the world's biggest unsolved art theft,” noted the Wall Street Journal. “Boser cracks th......more

Goodreads review by Samantha on May 16, 2010

I was really looking forward to reading this, as art heists fascinate me and I'm love with Boston, but it didn't live up to my expectations. It started off excellent, but soon became boring and a little strange. It starts by discussing the heist but quickly turns into an account of the author trying......more

Goodreads review by Sharon on May 07, 2018

Isabella Stewart Gardner was a wealthy Bostonian who spent liberally on priceless works of art. Eventually she built a museum to house them and it opened in 1904. In 1990 two men dressed as policemen demanded to be let into the Isabelle Stewart Gardner museum. Against instructions, the security guard......more

Goodreads review by Olivia on November 13, 2023

Fascinating, haunting, and teeming with endless theories, I only hope these paintings are found within my lifetime.......more

Goodreads review by Patricia on April 30, 2009

I have been marking this book up as I read it due to the plethora of inaccuracies, bad writing and dumb things the author did while he was "on the case"! Examples: 1) saying that the thieves were a mere 100 feet away from Titian's Europa when they were stealing the Degas sketches and the finial. The......more

Quotes

“Boser offers a tantalizing whodunit as he embarks on an exhaustive search for the stolen masterpieces.” Boston Globe

“Boser’s book on it has the feel of a speedy ride down a mountain road spiked with hairpin turns.” Christian Science Monitor

“The book is a thrill.” The Guardian (London)

“Expos[es] the real world of art theft: It isn’t about glamour and culture—it’s about greed, violence, and irreparable, maddening loss.” USA Today

“A captivating portrait of the world’s biggest unsolved art theft.” Wall Street Journal

“Boser cracks the cold case of the art world’s greatest unsolved mystery.” Vanity Fair

“Boser’s rousing account of his years spent collecting clues large and small is entertaining enough to make readers almost forget that…the paintings have still not been found.” Publishers Weekly

Awards

  • Bustle Pick
  • Boston Globe Bestseller
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