The Vermeer Conspiracy by Eytan Halaban ( Inkwater Press)

Sabrina is a young Latina from Chicago who has beaten the odds at every turn to make a success of herself. Now she is at Yale on a scholarship and nearing graduation. Yale hasn’t been a cakewalk either. Her freshman year she was raped by a professor, which she has kept secret from everyone, even her roommate, Danielle. The two couldn’t have been more different—Sabrina, dark, a little heavy, and an astronomy major who loves math, and Danielle, a willowy blonde majoring in art history with a special interest in Johannes Vermeer. Still, they become fast friends. But Danielle is mentor, Prof. Verhaast, the foremost expert on Vermeer, was the very man who had raped Sabrina. When Danielle suddenly disappears, Sabrina keeps a few things of Danielle’s from police so she can solve the mystery herself. What she discovers is that Danielle has been trying to prove Vermeer was not the actual artist of his famous pieces. It’s dangerous information. There have been other mysterious disappearances, all seemingly connected to Danielle's Vermeer theory which, if proven, would be ruinous to Verhaast. But there is more a strange group that seems to have a hold over Verhaast and a convent with strange secrets. Can Sabrina really figure all of this out and perhaps even save Danielle?

Author Eytan Halaban has written a real thriller of a mystery with some wonderful art history thrown in to make a most interesting read. The writing is crisp and the pacing fast, characters are well-rounded and credible, the premise fascinating and completely believable, especially in the deft hands of Halaban. It is clear he is done good research, and yet he shows great imagination as well. The ending, however, is a bit weak and doesn 't quite match the level of writing the rest of the book exhibits.