Midnight Angels : A Novel

This superior religious artifact quest thriller from Carcaterra (Sleepers) careens through the streets of Florence with quick stops at various museums and galleries for interesting sidebars on the life and work of Michelangelo ("the Divine One"). Two major groups are trying to find three Michelangelo statues, the Midnight Angels, long thought to be myth rather than reality: the secretive Vittoria Society, whose members locate stolen and lost art objects and return them to their rightful owners, and the Immortals, led by the Raven, a master thief who's as dangerous as he is ruthless. Early on, Kate Westcott, an American art student in Florence and the ward of the Vittoria Society's leader, tracks down the Midnight Angels, aided by her handsome Italian boyfriend, Marco. Many people die as Kate and friends fight to prevent the Immortals from stealing the Angels. The author's solid, well-executed premise will keep readers turning the pages. Kate Westcott, a gifted American art student, has come to Florence to study Michelangelo. Exploring the cobbled streets of the Renaissance city with her fellow student Marco, Kate feels the pull of destiny. And when the two uncover a chamber in a corridor sealed since the time of the Medicis, they make a stunning discovery: Michelangelo’s Midnight Angels—three small, exquisite sculptures long rumored to exist but never before seen. It is the find of a lifetime—and the beginning of a nightmare. Pursued by criminals, suspected by the Rome Art Squad, and navigating the underground network of a secret society, Kate and Marco must use all their cunning to protect Michelangelo’s work—and their lives. Visiting Florence to study art history and finish her thesis on the lost works of Michelangelo, American student Kate Westcott befriends Italian student Marco. They discover three missing sculptures, only to be violently targeted by a master art thief