"Genius" is a detective story and at the same time much more than a detective story. The literary level of "Genius" will pleasantly surprise even the most picky connoisseur of good prose. Jesse Kellerman has been compared to John Fowles, and there is some truth to that. The sophisticated, mysterious plots in his novels are combined with the highest literary style and philosophical depth. Ethan Muller is a gallery owner. One day he comes across drawings by the artist Victor Craik, who lived as a recluse for many years and recently disappeared without a trace. The drawings are so perfect, beautiful and scary at the same time that even an experienced and cynical art dealer falls under their spell. But these drawings are not just masterpieces of genius, they also hide a dark secret. Put together, the drawings form a gigantic canvas, on which is life itself, including its black side. This discovery turns Ethan into a detective, and he plunges into the strange, frightening world of a genius to understand the crimes of the past and present.