Original color

by Hugh (Hugh N.) Kennedy

Fred Layton, just graduated from Princeton, lands a job with the larger-than-life Nelson Albright, the East Coast's premier fine-print dealer. Nelson is the Boss from Hell, a man for whom the art takes a backseat to the deal. Under his boss's guidance, Fred learns the ropes: sweet-talking wealthy collectors, stealing clients from his colleagues, and outwitting other dealers. But when Fred discovers a valuable painting hidden within a 200-year-old book, he must decide where his loyalties lie - with the man who brought him into the business, or with the collector and ally who can help him escape from it. As he discovers, "original color" is more than a gauge of value for the art he sells; it is also a symbol for holding on to something true and meaningful in an age when money has taken precedence over everything else.