The Black Brook

A small-time art forger runs afoul of the New England mob in this comic crime novel from the author of The End of Vandalism: "One of our living masters" (McSweeney's).

Paul Emmons has his faults—envy, lust, naiveté, money laundering, and art forgery to name a few. A fallen accountant and scamster, Emmons and his wife, Mary, are exiled abroad, though they enjoy inadvisable returns to New England to check on the property they own but cannot claim.

Paul's unfortunate association with Carl...