The Spectacle by Anna Barrington-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 8, 2025

A powerful art dealer who presents a convincing portrait of international success pulls an idealistic young gallery assistant into his web of lies. This sharp, edgy social thriller explores the price of ambition in the decadent underbelly of the high-end art world.

Nobody knows quite who Rudolph Sullivan is, or how he ascended so quickly to the glittering top of New York’s art scene. When aspiring artist and struggling gallery assistant Ingrid meets the charismatic dealer at a party, she falls fast—Rudolph offers her a seductive taste of luxury and an escape from her humdrum existence.

But Rudolph is hiding much more than his dazzling facade lets on. With insatiable tastes and a need to keep up appearances, his debts mount rapidly, and he turns to double dealing to stay afloat. As his adversaries close in, Rudolph realizes his fall from grace could cost him more than his reputation. Panicking, paranoid, and willing to sacrifice anyone to maintain his precarious foothold, he plans his most audacious gambit yet—and Ingrid is at the center of it.

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REVIEW:  THE SPECTACLE by Anna Barrington is an adult, suspense thriller focusing on thirty-three year old, curator Rudolph ‘Gris’ Sullivan, and twenty-six year old, artist and gallery assistant Ingrid Groenfeld.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual omniscient third person perspectives (Rudolph and Ingrid), set in 2016-2017, THE SPECTACLE focuses on the affluent yet seedy underbelly of the art world. Rudolph Sullivan is an art curator, acquiring and selling paintings to the upper class and well-to-do. Jetting around the world, attending art auctions and parties, all in the hopes of using his name and reputation, Rudolph begins to acquire the ultimate prize but somewhere along the way, Rudoph’s need for opulence and money takes a terrible turn that will affect the lives of everyone he knows and the woman he loves. Ingrid Groenfeld was a struggling gallery assistant whose professional life was on the upward climb until her life implodes, and the spiral finds our ill-fated heroine beholden to the man whom she married, a man she would discover is not the man she had once known.

The world building focuses on the lifestyle of the people connected the art world, from sales to acquisitions, auctions to flamboyancy, appreciation , manipulation and greed but the past is about to catch up as the #MeToo movement slams into the interconnected life of artists and artistry. From the entitled and snobs, nouveau riche and Bohemian lifestyle, the art world is about to descend into chaos as one of their own turns the world upon itself, leaving a gutted minefield of lies in its’ wake.

THE SPECTACLE is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, money and greed, acceptance and dissension, devotion and duplicity. The premise is detailed, complex and edgy referencing names, places and ideals as only the author can describe. The author’s experience and work in galleries, auction houses and museums brings the art world up close and personal. The characters are charismatic, larger than life, and questionable on many levels.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy