The Spectacle, Anna Barrington
The Spectacle, Anna Barrington
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

The Spectacle
A Novel

Author: Anna Barrington

Narrator: Juliette Goglia, Nick Thurston

Unabridged: 14 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/08/2025


Synopsis

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.
 

Reviews

Goodreads review by Heather on July 06, 2025

BOOK✶TOUR #ad much love for my advanced copy @getredpr #partner 🆃🅷🅴 🆂🅿🅴🅲🆃🅰🅲🅻🅴 ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ᴊᴜʟʏ 𝟪, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧 What a fabulous book this one is! You get pulled right in before the prologue is even over. You don’t know what is happening but you know you’re hooked! Oof! Glamours lifestyles of the rich? Or maybe th......more

Goodreads review by Jamele (BookswithJams) on July 12, 2025

Thank you to @getredprbooks and @unionsqandco #partner for the free book to review! Today I am sharing The Spectacle by Anna Barrington, which was published this week (7/8) and is available now. This is a slow-burn read about the art scene. I found it interesting and liked the audio, but really like......more

Goodreads review by Hannah on July 08, 2025

The Spectacle by Anna Barrington is out today! drama, suspense, toxic relationships. A lucrative art scene in New York that is competitive improves that people will do anything for money. When Rudolph gets wrapped up into this world he meet Ingrid who quickly falls for him. How far will Rudolph go t......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on July 11, 2025

The Spectacle is a glimpse into the darker side of the art world and the seductive glamour and high profile status that can go along with it. I found it fascinating, but it also felt like it took a while to really get the story moving, but then the twists just kept coming. I did listen to the ending......more

Goodreads review by Carmen M on July 06, 2025

Thank you so much to @GetRedPRBooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This was such a sharp, twisty ride through the glamorous (and seriously shady) side of the art world. The Spectacle pulls you right into the world of Rudolph Sullivan, a charming, mysterious art dealer who seems to ha......more


Quotes

"The status-obsessed, money-fueled New York art scene provides the backdrop for a page-turning new social thriller."—People.com

“A high-powered page-turner, The Spectacle does a deep dive into what lies beneath the shiny veneer of the art world. With unique insights and cutting satire, Anna Barrington reveals the ambition, greed, and fraud that fuels this multibillion-dollar business—not to mention a bracing love story. Highly recommended.”—B. A. Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of The Art Forger and The Lost Masterpiece

"Seductive and tense, The Spectacle pulls you behind the velvet ropes of New York’s ultra-exclusive art world and into its darker undercurrents. . . . In Anna Barrington’s thrilling debut, a love story intertwines with scheming dealers, pretentious artists, and ruthless collectors. The question is: will the lovers survive their own ambitions? Fans of Katy Hays’s The Cloisters and Elizabeth Kostova’s The Swan Thieves will love this sensational addition to the art world thriller."—Lauren Nossett, author of The Professor

"A highbrow fever dream of a novel, The Spectacle is tailor-made for the discerning reader who craves getting lost in a world that is chic and severe in equal measure. I inhaled this decadent glimpse into the underbelly of the art world, led with aplomb by a character of such disturbing charm, the shades of Tom Ripley and Patrick Bateman were impossible to ignore. Anna Barrington delivers a biting and brilliant debut more than deserving of its perfect title."—Rachel Koller Croft, USA TODAY–bestselling author of Stone Cold Fox