Fair Warning: A Novel

Writers should be wary of titles that can be used against them. Fair Warning is just what the reader may need when considering this sparkling but featherweight depiction of the auction world. In his 11th novel, celebrated writer Robert Olen Butler explores the allure of possession. Amy Dickerson is a charismatic and penetrating auctioneer, the star of her New York auction house, who feels as comfortable flirting from the podium as extolling the virtues of a minor Rembrandt nude. Needless to say, she's slender, rich, and beautiful. Enter Alain Bouchard, the charming, well-educated, and too-good-to-be-true Frenchman who is buying her auction house--and trying to acquire Amy too. Although there are some lovely passages in Fair Warning, and it avoids the stock romantic ending that it appears to lean toward, Butler relies too much on the glamour of great wealth. Ultimately, he ends up short-changing the reader. --Regina Marler