FUGITIVE COLORS by Lisa Barr

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

American Julian joins up with fellow artists Rene and Felix in Paris, and is swept into a pre-World War 2 saga as the Nazis try to eradicate (and profit from) modern art. Julian and Rene, who are Jewish, follow untalented Felix to his grand family home in Potsdam in a pilgrimage to work with a leading expressionist. Felix goes Nazi and plans to destroy Julian, Rene and their entire artistic movement. So Julian becomes a double agent, he and Rene fall into Nazi clutches and are sent to Dachau, but they escape and flee to Munich. There they crash a Nazi art show and try to recover Rene’s lost art, but are captured and tortured again, only to escape to Paris and a showdown with Felix which leaves Julian to plot his revenge for over 20 years. Along the way, love triangles are sorted out. Whew! Yes, the scope is epic, and I enjoyed the book as a page-turner read, because the writing is engaging and sometimes very immersive, particularly when the narrative and dialogue have Rene and Julian creating and appreciating modern art. That said, I would have preferred half the plot twists and more of the book’s sensitive reflections on the crimes the Nazis perpetrated on modern art.