In the early 1970s a reclusive artist and philosopher disappears in Paris after completing a fantastic series of canvases that trace the rise and fall of empires. Eventually his bloated body is dragged from the Seine. The knowledge and insight die with him. Years later, Claude Chiragi, a graduate student in Montreal receives a mysterious painting and senses the relevance of the theory embedded in the artwork. His curiosity is instantly aroused, and he launches a global search for clues that will help him understand the message and unravel the mystery of the artist's fate. Embedded in the paintings are tell-tale historical clues, mysteriously coded, that predict imperial entropy in the future-from economic collapse and cultural decadence to a coup d'etat against civil society. Kidnappings, killings, undercover conspiracy and a trek into ancestral roots, lend to this novel its quality of intellectual mystery and gripping suspense.

Playwright and engineer, Rana Bose lives in Montreal. His plays have been staged in Canada, the United States, and India.

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"The Fourth Canvas is an intellectual thriller, an ambitious novel of ideas full of juicy characters. Rana Bose tackles the enigma at the heart of all great thinkers and doers." --Marianne Ackerman

"Using six degrees of separation and a mysterious artist's fourth canvas, author Rana Bose builds one great story!" --Desi Life

"With complex characters, a wide-spanning time period, and historical fact mixed with brilliant fiction, The Fourth Canvas will leave you asking, 'When is the next Bose book ready?'" --carp(e) libris