At first I was a bit disappointed in the sixteenth book in the Gabriel Allon series. I had read nearly half before the story grabbed me. Gabriel is on the eve of becoming Chief of Israeli Intelligence when a massive bombing in Paris by ISIS draws him back into the field. In an effort to stop the terrorist mastermind known only by the alias "Saladin", Gabriel enlists a beautiful young doctor named Natalie Mizrahi to infiltrate ISIS and prevent further bloodshed. Things go horribly wrong when they are unable to stop further horrendous attacks and Natalie's life is in imminent danger. The story is left open ended which I'm sure means it is being continued in the next installment. But in the end Gabriel is installed as the "Memuneh" of the intelligence service, something which doesn't please Gabriel but has left the former head, Ari Shamron, a very happy man.
A forward by the author tells of how he almost stopped publication of the book in light of the recent attacks in Europe. In previous books, Silva has shown uncanny prescience in predicting events in the troubled Middle East. It is hoped he is wrong this time.
No comments:
Post a Comment