The Painter of Time

By: Matthew S O'Connell

Narrated by: Susan Fouche

Contemporary/historical suspense audiobook set amid the art world of modern day NYC and the dawn of the Renaissance in Italy.

Bronx born and bred, Mackenzie Ferrara is both nervous and excited to begin her career as a restorer of fine art at the prestigious Cloisters in New York City. The star of the restoration team is a handsome and reserved Italian, Anthony Bataglia. On loan from the Ufizzi, he is renowned for his ability to bring pre-Renaissance treasures back to life. Despite a rocky start, the two form a close working relationship, which Mackenzie hopes will blossom into something more.

But as she works with him she begins to notice peculiar patterns and unexplainable similarities in all of his restorations. Something is clearly not what it seems to be with the dashing Mr. Bataglia. Mackenzie - with help from her father, a retired detective - is determined to uncover the truth, regardless of the consequences.

©2015 Matthew O'Connell (P)2018 Matthew O'Connell

Critic reviews

Review by Dab of Darkness: This is a charming contemporary tale that incorporates the lives of some of the great Italian artists from Medieval and Renaissance times such as Berlinghiero Berlinghieri, Daddi, Giotto, Filippo Lippi, and Michelangelo. The suspense is well done, cranking the reader up chapter by chapter. There’s also small flashbacks to the lives of these renowned Italian artists. Eventually, it’s revealed what Bataglia’s connection is to these artists and Mackenzie is astounded. I really liked the flashbacks even though they didn’t linger over historical details. The flashback that had the most impact on me involved the bubonic plague.

Susan Fouche did a fantastic job with this narration. Her New York and Italian accents really brought this story to life. Her pacing was perfect and her male voices were believable. She had distinct voices for all the characters.

Review by Martha's Bookshelf: The plot details are engaging and kept me eagerly listening. The historical elements of the paintings and the detailed explanation of restoration are very fascinating. The descriptions would pull in any art lover and even those of us who are familiar with some art periods and styles but are in no way art authorities. I recommend this to mystery lovers as well as art lovers.

Susan Fouche does a wonderful job with the narration. She provides appropriate voices and energies to each of the characters. The presentation is clear and flows easily. I enjoyed this and highly recommend the audio version.

Great art history & detail with a good twist.

This is a good listen filled with fascinating art history shared with a twist. My rating 4.25.

Mackenzie is excited to begin her new career as a restorer of fine art at the prestigious Cloisters Museum. She is partnered to work under a renowned restorer, a handsome Italian, Anthony Bataglia. Anthony specializes in restorations of pre-Renaissance works. He is quiet and dedicated and Mackenzie is learning as he mentors her, showing her how to inspect every corner and inch of the work, documenting any deterioration in color, paint medium, canvas, condition or other unusual anomalies.

Mackenzie notices an unusual detail regarding women in several paintings as well as a mystery about the signatures. Mackenzie’s father is a retired cop who has reason to be interested in art anomalies due to an old forgery case. They discuss the details of Mackenzie’s research and turn up some more interesting facts. Mackenzie’s investigation brings a possibility of romance while revealing some surprises and twists that are unique and fun.

The plot details are engaging and kept me eagerly listening. The historical elements of the paintings and the detailed explanation of restoration are very fascinating. The descriptions would pull in any art lover and even those of us who are familiar with some art periods and styles but are in no way art authorities. I recommend this to mystery lovers as well as art lovers.

Audio Notes: Susan Fouche does a wonderful job with the narration. She provides appropriate voices and energies to each of the characters. The presentation is clear and flows easily. I enjoyed this and highly recommend the audio version.

Source: Author Marketing Experts.

Uniqueness from Genre-Blending

This novel is packed with romance, action, science fiction, and history to create a unique story of an art restorer in NYC searching for answers and finding much more than expected. This historical fiction explores different worlds and how art is connected through it all. Between NYC and historical Italy, the author has you constantly on your toes with character expectations and plot outline. The uniqueness comes from the genre blending- I've yet to read many books that can blend art history and science fiction without struggle, like O'Connell does. I had the audiobook version of this piece- I definitely wouldn't mind reading it for myself again to re-create the descriptive places this story takes you.

Great story and calming narrator

I hadn't listened to an audiobook in quite some time and forgotten how enjoyable they could be, how relaxing, especially when the narrator is so soothing to listen to. I found the story interesting which is not always the case when the subject is about art. I enjoyed how the author went back and forth from past to present. The book was thoroughly enjoying to listen to and I think I will listen to it again on the next rainy day.

Fun story!

I don’t usually listen to fiction audiobooks, but I am so glad I picked this one up. Once I got into it, I didn’t want to stop listening. Clocking in at 10 hours, I enjoyed this book while sewing, cleaning, and driving around town. I would even stay up late to listen to another chapter just to see how things were going to work out.
There are two elements of an audio book that need to be considered. The only negative I can offer is that the narrator used a breathy voice for our main character Mackenzie Ferrara that made her seem young and immature. Other than that the reading was great!
I found it difficult to review the book without spoiling the plot twist. It is a darn good one, and not one you see coming. I usually skip ahead in books to see how things work out, and I am thankful I did not have the opportunity in this instance. I definitely enjoyed the ride.

What a fun and mysterious book

I loved the inflection in the narrator’s voice. This definitely helped for the audience to distinguish between different characters. This is certainly an intriguing book about a painter who has lived many life times. If art isn’t your cup of tea, don’t worry, it is just the background information and setting for a great mystery. I love how a retired detective who is the father of Mackenzie, helps his daughter crack the case about some oddities that she runs across at her new job. This book is read with great inflection and tone. It is very easy to understand the narrator and to follow along without getting lost. There are some moments that are exciting and other moments that are quite sad. This book will definitely elicit multiple emotions from the audience. The storyline is quite an interesting concept. I feel that this would be a wonderful book for adults interested in intriguing well written mysteries. This would be wonderful to listen to on a road trip, on a vacation, or on a rainy day. The concept is so intriguing that I feel many others would love it too!

Great story with art history, romance, fantasy

I was totally engrossed with this book the story and the characters were enthralling. Definitely would recommend for lovers of The Time Traveler's Wife and for people who love The Cloisters on the East Coast. (I've only been once on a field trip but the descriptions were spot on). The obvious love of art history and art by the author definitely come through and made this novel very enjoyable especially for somebody who studied art history only as an amateur and hearing about the process of restoration...well I highly enjoyed this production. Audio was great as well!

Tour of the Great Italian Painters

This is a charming contemporary tale that incorporates the lives of some of the great Italian artists from Medieval and Renaissance times such as Berlinghiero Berlinghieri, Daddi, Giotto, Filippo Lippi, and Michelangelo. Mackenzie is an engaging character with her skills in art restoration, her cat Octavius, and living with her dad Joe (a retired detective). She’s very excited to be working at the Cloisters restoring old paintings. Anthony Bataglia, a renowned restorer, will be mentoring her. Indeed, Mackenzie is on Cloud 9 with the direction her live is taking. But then she starts to suspect something else is going on with some of the paintings. She notices a small anomaly in a few paintings that span several decades. Her dad offers to help her dig into the matter and what they uncover doesn’t look good for Bataglia.

The suspense is well done, cranking the reader up chapter by chapter. There’s also small flashbacks to the lives of these renowned Italian artists. Eventually, it’s revealed what Bataglia’s connection is to these artists and Mackenzie is astounded. I really liked the flashbacks even though they didn’t linger over historical details. The flashback that had the most impact on me involved the bubonic plague.

At that point, Bataglia becomes the focus of the tale. Mackenzie falls to the background, turning into a pale reflection of Bataglia’s interesting life. I was a bit sad to see that Mackenzie lost a good chunk of her personality at this point.

The romance is a slow burn that I could see coming a mile off. At first, I didn’t mind. After all, the two are interested in the same things. However, I didn’t like how Mackenzie’s personality shrunk as the story became all about Bataglia. While he is arguably the most interesting character in the story, I needed Mackenzie to continue to stand out to bring balance to it. The romance turned Mackenzie into a silly girl who lost her head over her first serious love interest.

Getting back to Bataglia, he laid out a believable past and one that Mackenzie eventually came to believe. There’s a dramatic bit near the ending that pushed Mackenzie to bouts of tears and depression and I was surprised that she couldn’t see through the ruse. It was obvious to me. Then finally, that little bit about Bataglia getting a few grey hairs – Ah! That was genius because now I question if Bataglia is really what he says he is or just a master story teller and manipulator. I get to decide and I really liked that about the ending. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Susan Fouche did a fantastic job with this narration. He New York and Italian accents really brought this story to life. Her pacing was perfect and her male voices were believable. She had distinct voices for all the characters. Plenty of emotions are on display in this tale and Fouche brought them all to life. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

Great mystery with twists and turns

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book. The author was very knowledgeable about art restoration particularly pre-Renaissance works. There are flashbacks to the artists who created the early masterpieces, which creates an interesting point of view. The story starts with Mckenzie Ferrara, a recent art school graduate who is anxious to start her job with one of the most respected art houses in the country. She will be working with Anthony Bataglia, a brilliant art restorer from Italy. Mackenzie learns a lot from Bataglia, but some things don’t seem to add up. She begins to suspect that Bataglia is not all he seems. She enlists the help of her father, A retired NYPD detective, to investigate some of the strange happenings. There are lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.

Lovely read - totally engaging!!!

All I wanted to do was hang with Antonio and Mackenzie. Fascinating story well told!!!

The Painter of Time

It had been a few months since I last listened to an audiobook. I was excited for The Painter of Time since it seemed to mix some art history along with some suspense. Narrator wise: the narrator's voice was pleasant and soothing. In the beginning I thought her Italian accent was cheesy, but it grew on me the longer I listened. Plot wise: I found it interesting. I appreciated that the author chose some well known pieces of art to mention as it was easy to visualize the pieces that were being worked on. Mackenzie Ferrara was an easy character to root for, but maybe it is due to the fact I like seeing young women being successful in their career field. Anthony Bataglia, the famous restorer immediately came off as a slimey up to no good character, but I am guessing that was the goal of the author. At times the plot line was predictable (Mackenzie falling for Bataglia, Bataglia's work being suspicious), but I did enjoy the time hops back into the past. You can tell that the author did his research on Italian art and the restoration process.