Her dreams are filled with the vivid images of her visits to her rich grandfather's isolated home on Owl's Point on the Connecticut coast. Now, an art history graduate student, Theresa remembers with fondness the happy summer days visiting there and connecting with her older cousins. She had not been back in years, but now her grandfather had summoned her and her cousins to see him.

Alfred Arthur Morse had three children and four adult grandchildren (James, Audrey, Theresa, and Kenny) whose lives were overpowered by his control. He had wounding messages for them, but not all got said as he died before he could talk to them. What would he have said to her and Audrey had he lived? Having discovered him dead when they arrived, they would never know. The cousins are uneasy with each other now as circumstances had driven them apart. Their grandfather had a famous painting, a reputed Black Painting. It was said to be a tortured self-portrait of Franciso José de Goya that would cause death or madness to any who viewed it. It had been stolen and each had their suspicious over what had happened. Who really knew the truth? What are Thresa's nightmares telling her?

THE BLACK PAINTING is the second book by Neil Olsen that is centered around a famous painting. In this case, THE BLACK PAINTING is about a rare painting reputed to be part of a set of Black Paintings by Goya that highlight the artist's fears of insanity, war, and a bleak perspective on humanity. They were painted between 1819 and 1827 and one of the highlights of the novel was learning about the paintings and the impact they had in the various dialogues between the characters.

THE BLACK PAINTING is a complex, almost Gothic story, with is desolate atmosphere around the old mansion and rich eccentric characters who pay little heed to the feelings and concerns of others and dark family secrets. The story is told from the perspective of the different characters as they tell of their lives after the painting was stolen and their idyllic family summers shattered by the loss and their suspicions of each other.

While some readers may be a bit put off by the constant references to Theresa's mysterious illness and nightmares, it is effective at highlighting the traumatic stress of seeing horrific incidents as well as for moving the story forward. In addition to the interesting information about Goya's intriguing paintings, there are enough surprising twists and revelations to make THE BLACK PAINTING an intriguing and suspenseful read!