Review: The Tempest by Juan Manuel de Prada

Synopsis: Murder, love, betrayal, and some of the world’s most beautiful objets d’art come together in Juan Manuel de Prada's tempestuous, prize-winning novel set in Europe’s quintessentially enigmatic city: Venice. 

Alejandro Ballesteros, a young Spanish art historian, arrives in wintry Venice to study Giorgione's painting “The Tempest,” but on his first day there, he witnesses a shocking murder and is propelled into a dangerous web that brings together the city's rarified academic world and a master forger. Exploring the boundaries between art and reality, intellect and passion, The Tempest is a mesmerizing and thought-provoking novel by one of Spain’s most gifted new writers.

I just could not get into this one - I literally could not get past the first chapter I am sorry to say.  I picked it up second hand as the premise sounded good, only to find myself now wondering why.

I just could not get into the first person narrative that seemed to meander along without direction or focus. The book, "like January ".. was setting in like an opiate; cold and harsh ..." and I for one was glad to relinquish its icy hold.