The perfect Fake is a book written by Barbara Parker and it belongs to the genre of mystery / suspense/thriller. It was published by Dutton Adult in December 28, 2006.The main character is a man called Tom Fairchild who has a troubled past characterized by lots of debts and has been unable to stay out of trouble.Since he was thirteen he has been involved in crimes such as shoplifting and smoking marijuana which leads to him being put on probation. He is on probation after being jailed for one year over a case where he broke into a house. He has to behave well or else he gets locked up in the state prison. These have continued to haunt him and he wants to escape them and get his life back When a millionaire businessman called Stuart Barlowe seeks his services as a graphic artist, Tom Fairchild is thorn between keeping his reputation and earning the huge sums of money offered to him. He decides to take the job despite the fact that it is a risky and dangerous try that may result even in him losing his life. Barlowe wants him to recreate a valuable 500-year-old renaissance map which was created by an Italian cartographer named Gaetano Corelli and destroyed during a recent murder of Judge Royce Herron who also likes maps. The map gets stained by the blood of the judge and by the bullets used to kill him. The map loaned to the judge by Barlowe and he is really concerned about the damage on this map and wants it replaced immediately and by all means. He had intended to give the map to a Russian Mafioso whose investment is important to Barlowe’s latest project. Barlowe promises lots of cash to Tom Fairchild so that he can create a map that would be indistinguishable from the original. However, he soon realizes that what Barlowe really wants is for him to create a perfect forgery of the valuable map. Barlowe’s daughter Allison who is a map expert gets wind of what is going on and she is not happy with the fact that her father wants to lie to the Russian. Barlowe wants Allison to go with Tom so that she can watch over the project. Tom and Allison were once lovers and this project brings them together again. Tom undertakes this difficult task assisted by Allison and his friend, Eddie. They soon realize that the task involves much more than the renaissance map as people start getting killed. The setting of this novel occurs in many places including Miami, London and Italy. The author describes the places in great detail and this makes the book more interesting. As the plot unfolds, other themes emerges for instance the theme of corruption, exploitation, smuggling and even a potential political coup in a South American country. However as the story comes to an end, it falls apart as the author offers a rushed conclusion of events. The major characters lose their first appeal and the dialogue becomes artificial and boring. However, compared with the other novels written by Parker, The Perfect Fake is one of the best. The novel captures the readers’ attention through the difficult choices that Tom Fairchild has to make and to whether he can create the perfect fake. Furthermore, Parker intelligently develops the plot and the way conflict resolution occurs in the novel is also quite interesting.