Opening paragraphs........................

Though the stranger did not know it, two disparate series of events were by that night already conspiring to lure him back onto the field of battle.  One was being played out behind the locked doors of the world's secret intelligence services while the other was the subject of a global media frenzy.  The newspapers had dubbed it "the summer of theft,"  the worst epidemic of art heists to sweep Europe in a generation.  Across the Continent, priceless paintings were disappearing like postcards plucked from the rack of a sidewalk kiosk.  The anguished masters of the art universe had professed shock over the rash of robberies, though the true professionals inside law enforcement admitted it was small wonder there were any paintings left to steal.  "If you nail a hundred million dollars to a poorly guarded wall," said one beleaguered official from Interpol, "it's only a matter of time before a determined thief will try to walk away with it."
-Daniel Silva, The Rembrandt Affair