The Gravity of Shadows: A Novel

New York: Harper, 1998. First Edition, First Printing. Fine Hardcover in a Fine Dust Jacket. Fine/New.

No Flaws or Blemishes but age-toning to the text; unread. First Edition, First Printing. . The most amazing thing about this enjoyable new thriller by the author of the much-praised Thief of Light is that it exists at all. David Ramus was a top New York City art dealer who got into big trouble because of drug use and escalating debts in a dying art market.

 His first book was written to pay back his creditors; this one, his second, was written in a Federal prison where Ramus was serving a year's sentence for interstate transportation of stolen art.

"The constant friction of human contact, the noise and dirt and the simple fact that there is no such thing as a comfortable chair in prison makes it incredibly difficult to sit down with your thoughts and ideas and turn them into meaningful words on a page," he says.

In spite of this, The Gravity of Shadows is a smoothly written, carefully plotted story about a desperate New York art dealer, Wil Sumner, who takes a job appraising a private collection in his old home town of Palm Beach, Florida. Scandal, corruption, wayward sex, and murder are some of the things that Sumner finds hiding behind the priceless pictures. --Dick Adler.