The English Assassin by Daniel Silva 386 pp.
This book is the second in the series featuring art restorer and Mossad agent & assassin, Gabriel Allon. After being given an art restoration assignment in Switzerland, Allon arrives to find the owner of the painting, Swiss banker named Wolfe, lying dead in a pool of blood. This begins a tale that criss-crosses Europe as Allon investigates connection between Swiss banks and art works stolen by the Nazis, many from Jews who were sent to the gas chamber. During the course of the investigation, Allon's sources of information are killed off one by one and he is being stalked by a former British military officer turned assassin--an assassin who had been trained by Allon years earlier. Allon also must protect Wolfe's daughter, a concert violinist, who is also on the hit list. In spite of all the beatings, killings, kidnappings, and illegal activity the ones who come off looking bad in this book are the Swiss. Silva did a lot of research into the shady WWII activities of the supposedly neutral country and the Swiss belief that if they did anything wrong it doesn't matter because it was so long ago.
After reading this book, it makes me glad my husband's Swiss ancestors were farmers who left the country in the early 1800s.
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