Forged in Deceit is a mystery of art forgery and theft, and of the strength necessary to rise from the mistakes of your past to redeem your life and your character.
Jake Daniels is a man haunted by his past mistakes. Once considered a talented young artist, he and a friend, Luc Benoit, challenged their artistic abilities with a game: to see who could re-create the most accurate replicas of famous paintings. They were so good at this, in fact, that Luc managed to get one of his fakes accepted in a gallery as a work by the Impressionist artist Edgar Degas. When an art collector (also one of a small network of art thieves) purchased the painting, Luc was trapped. Would he admit to the forgery and ruin his career or stay silent? Jake stepped up and claimed that the forgery was one of his. From this event, Luc was spared, Jake was attacked and seriously injured - his reputation as an artist ruined - and their friendship living in Paris with Lily O'Connell (Jake's lover) ended.
Now, back in his hometown of Baltimore, Jake has withdrawn into anger and guilt and is working as an art conservator in the museum world to build a new life and new reputation.
The novel opens five years after these events, when Jake is suddenly pulled from his new life. Luc has come from Paris to see him and to ask his help. He needs Jake to keep something for him for a few days. Reluctantly, Jake accepts.
Jake's acceptance sets in motion a series of events that takes him to Paris, to the French countryside, and eventually to the town of Ghent, Belgium - home to one of the art world's most revered works: the Altarpiece of the Mystic Lamb by Jan van Eyck.
Even Jake, who has grown angry and cynical of the art world over the last five years, is still shocked and emboldened by what he uncovers there.
Forged in Deceit reveals some of the secrets of classic art forgers, as well as the more hidden secrets that allow someone to rise from an aimless anger and find the strength for redemption.