8 years ago she ran to safety. Now Charlotte Montgomery’s past has caught up with her.
Charlotte Montgomery was forced to leave everything behind to shield her son from a dangerous life. As an artist, she’s built a new world of safety and security for them both, far from the shadows that once haunted her. But the peace she’s fought so hard to maintain is shattered when her past comes crashing back.
The Italian crime family she escaped from has reappeared, determined to pull her back into their web of deceit and crime. This time, they want her to participate in their money-laundering scheme—and they won’t take no for an answer. But Charlotte has other plans. She’s willing to play along, but only to bring down the ex who tore her life apart.
Enter Carter, an accountant who’s been approached by the FBI to help trace money connected to the same crime family. Drawn into the dangerous game Charlotte is playing, Carter becomes both an ally and a complication. As they work together, the line between duty and desire blurs, and the stakes grow higher.
As her worlds collide, Charlotte must navigate a deadly game where the risks are greater than ever. With everything she’s built on the line, it’s a race to survive—and this time, she’s not fighting alone.
"This was a really fun read and one that fans of Christian suspense are sure to want to check out."
Reader review on Goodreads
The prequel to The Vanished, this book was in the Summer Heat collection Come What May. Now available at CaraPutman.com and other retail platforms. It is now available in paperback on Amazon and coming to other stores soon.
From a reader review on Goodreads.com:
The Art of Deception is about a former artist, Charlotte Montgomery, who stopped pursuing her love for painting in order to hide herself and her young son from an Italian crime family. There are a lot of realistic details about the painting process, so the intricately researched facts were much appreciated. I also liked the characters, especially Charlotte, a woman determined to keep her son safe at no small cost to herself. And I enjoyed getting to meet her boss who was just as determined to keep her safe from unscrupulous money launderers and FBI agents who might be willing to use her to accomplish their own goals. The book was well-paced with just enough intrigue and a few edgy scenes that it kept me interested in what would happen to Marie (aka Charlotte). The plot is tight and crackles with tension as Charlotte faces her former nemesis and convincingly explores taking down an Italian mob family. I enjoyed getting to know the characters who were believable and unique, but I mostly liked the “James Bond” kind of cleverness included in the story and waited breathlessly as I quickly turned pages to get to the conclusion.
From another reader review on Goodreads.com:
Cara Putman, in Art of Deception, artistically painted a story of life and fear as Charlotte Montgomery, known as Marie, ran from the past filled with the Italian Mob. Years after racing her son to his homeland – murder, kidnapping, mayhem, and mischief has followed. With a survivor’s instinct, Marie begins to fight back, reaching for an end to the running that has occupied her last eight years alongside her boss-accountant, Thayer Jackson. With fierce protection and faith, can Marie escape once again and finally return to using her birthname, Charlotte, forever? This was a great book and I give it 4 stars out of 5!
Another reader review on Goodreads.com:
Right from the start, this story absolutely drew me in, leaving me wanting to figure out what exactly had happened in Charlotte/Marie’s past. While the pace felt a little slower than what I’m used to in a typical suspense read, it was perfect for this story (and was still a fairly quick read too). Where many suspense stories are back-to-back action that keep you on the edge of your seat, I felt like this one really only had a handful of those high suspense moments… still the high stakes of protecting her child had me absolutely invested into the story just as well as an action-packed story would have. It was really an interesting look into the world of art forgeries and money laundering that felt unique and was quite entertaining too. There was definitely a hint of romance, but I definitely feel like that took a bit of a backseat in this one and didn’t really pick up until closer to the end, but I didn’t mind that one bit!
