Overview

"In 2004, masked thieves stole Edvard Munch's The Scream from an Oslo museum. Norwegian police recovered the painting two years later but never explained how or where they'd found it. This 70,000-word literary-leaning, humor-laced, crime novel Stealing The Scream tells what may have happened. Retired CEO-turned-painter Percival Davenport's criminality starts when, fueled by insecurity, he hires a whiskey-drinking thief to break into museums and hang his paintings. If Percival can pass off his art as museum-quality, he will know he's attained mastery. The ""donations"" attract the attention of Leonard, a Smithsonian guard and amateur sleuth. As Leonard begins collecting the unwanted paintings and searching for the artist, Percival's studies intensify. He develops an obsession with Edvard Munch's The Scream and steals it. When Leonard and law enforcement agents come knocking at Percival's door, his Tell-Tale-Heart-like anxiety causes him to turn his mansion, and the famous painting, into a roiling inferno. This forces the police into creative means of art restoration."

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9781732709751

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Reviews

At times Stealing the Scream is laugh-out-loud funny, but it is always filled with enough mystery to encourage the reader to keep turning the page... This one was a scream to read. - Judith Reveal, New York Review of Books Theodore Carter's ingenious reinvention of the actual theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream is a compelling and provocative exploration of the seductive power of art, the arrogance of wealth, the danger of misplaced loyalty, and the relationships between a work of art and its audience. - Eric Kraft, author of Reservations Recommended Stealing the Scream is neat and well plotted, the seriousness that returns for the punchline has a blog of bite. This is an Imaginative and pacy story. - Paul Burke, NBMagazine A stylish, speculative heist thriller riffing off an infamous true caper and steeped in creative craftsmanship, Stealing the Scream is the literary equivalent of a crisp, dry Martini garnished with not one but several tantalizing twists. The result is an intoxicating recipe whose standard genre ingredients--mystery, romance, history, suspense, drama, humor--are uniquely blended into a concoction that is both potent and poetic. - Will Viharo, author of The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection and the Vic Valentine, Private Eye series Carter is a witty, savvy writer and he keeps this tale humming right up until its brilliant denouement. - Corey Mesler, author Memphis Movie and Camel's Bastard Son Theodore Carter's crime novel, Stealing the Scream, creates a what-if scenario that outshines all others . . . an intense mystery with multiple plot tangents and varying scenarios. - Emily Jane Hills Orford, Readers' Favorite Stealing the Scream goes beyond the whodunit to the howdunnit, and then further still: a proper whydunnit. The motives, in the end, are fascinating. Here are people who don't like themselves enough, people who feel they haven't realized their own potential. People who haven't yet painted their masterpieces. Carter commits them all to canvas in a vivid, entertaining swirl of comedy and tragedy. - Ben Rogers, author of The Flamer This is an amazing tale of a most complicated man and his strange journey in the world of art. Highly recom-mended for anyone wanting to read something different, captivating, amusing and well-worth the time spent. - Marilyn Meredith, author of the Deputy Temple Crabtree mystery series It's about talent and ambition and self-sabotage. It's about international crime connections and capers so crazy they just might almost work. Read it yourself. I bet you a box of frozen burritos you'll be convinced--or at least thoroughly entertained. Neil Ellis Orts, author of Cary and John

"""At times Stealing the Scream is laugh-out-loud funny, but it is always filled with enough mystery to encourage the reader to keep turning the page... This one was a scream to read."" - Judith Reveal, New York Review of Books ""Theodore Carter's ingenious reinvention of the actual theft of Edvard Munch's The Scream is a compelling and provocative exploration of the seductive power of art, the arrogance of wealth, the danger of misplaced loyalty, and the relationships between a work of art and its audience."" - Eric Kraft, author of Reservations Recommended ""Stealing the Scream is neat and well plotted, the seriousness that returns for the punchline has a blog of bite. This is an Imaginative and pacy story."" - Paul Burke, NBMagazine ""A stylish, speculative heist thriller riffing off an infamous true caper and steeped in creative craftsmanship, Stealing the Scream is the literary equivalent of a crisp, dry Martini garnished with not one but several tantalizing twists. The result is an intoxicating recipe whose standard genre ingredients--mystery, romance, history, suspense, drama, humor--are uniquely blended into a concoction that is both potent and poetic."" - Will Viharo, author of The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection and the Vic Valentine, Private Eye series ""Carter is a witty, savvy writer and he keeps this tale humming right up until its brilliant denouement."" - Corey Mesler, author Memphis Movie and Camel's Bastard Son ""Theodore Carter's crime novel, Stealing the Scream, creates a what-if scenario that outshines all others . . . an intense mystery with multiple plot tangents and varying scenarios."" - Emily Jane Hills Orford, Readers' Favorite ""Stealing the Scream goes beyond the whodunit to the howdunnit, and then further still: a proper whydunnit. The motives, in the end, are fascinating. Here are people who don't like themselves enough, people who feel they haven't realized their own potential. People who haven't yet painted their masterpieces. Carter commits them all to canvas in a vivid, entertaining swirl of comedy and tragedy."" - Ben Rogers, author of The Flamer ""This is an amazing tale of a most complicated man and his strange journey in the world of art. Highly recom-mended for anyone wanting to read something different, captivating, amusing and well-worth the time spent."" - Marilyn Meredith, author of the Deputy Temple Crabtree mystery series ""It's about talent and ambition and self-sabotage. It's about international crime connections and capers so crazy they just might almost work. Read it yourself. I bet you a box of frozen burritos you'll be convinced--or at least thoroughly entertained."" Neil Ellis Orts, author of Cary and John"

Author Information

Theodore Carter is the author of The Life Story of a Chilean Sea Blob and Other Matters of Importance (Queens Ferry Press, 2012) and Frida Sex Dreams and Other Unnerving Disruptions (Run Amok Books, 2019), which was named to the Indie Book Picks list by Broken Pencil Magazine. His fiction has appeared in several magazines including The North American Review, Pank, Necessary Fiction, Potomac Review, and Gargoyle. His street art, which began as a book promotion stunt, has appeared on TV. and in print in several Washington, D.C. media outlets.

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