A Death in Cornwall

 

A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva  416 pp.

The Gabriel Allon series continues in Silva's latest installment. Gabriel is no longer connected with the Israeli Intelligence Agency, aka Mossad and works full time for the art restoration company run by his wife Chiara. But he ends up being involved in an art related investigation after the murder of an Art History Professor in the part of Cornwall where Gabriel lived many years before. It first appears she is a victim of a serial killer until it's learned she was studying the provenance of a missing Picasso painting looted by the Nazis in WWI. An old friend from Gabriel's time in Cornwall requests his assistance in the police investigation of the killing. The investigation leads to the vast underground world of art sales and money laundering which encompasses legitimate collectors, world leaders, organized crime lords, and the fabulously wealthy. The plot is fast moving and contains enough twists to keep your interest. Silva also brings back some characters from previous novels but sadly, not any of his Mossad cohorts. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. This is one of my favorite series. 

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

 

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva  431 pp.

Gabriel Allon has retired from his job as head of the Israeli Secret Service and settled, with his family, in Venice. His wife, Chiara, is running Tiepolo Restoration Company while Gabriel does the art restorations. Soon he is drawn into a deadly investigation of the sale of art forgeries on a grand scale. To catch the forgers and unscrupulous dealers, Allon must become the world's greatest art forger and enter into the dirty side of the multimillion dollar art world. This book has all the action and intrigue of the previous novels without the political angle.

The Collector

The Collector by Daniel Silva 402 pp.

Daniel Silva masterfully continues the series that takes storylines from the headlines  and turns them into all too plausible plots in my favorite series. Gabriel Allon, art restorer and former head of Israeli Intelligence has retired from his spy/assassin duties to live a quiet life in Venice with his wife and children, working as an art restorer. At least that's the plan until he ends up involved in the recovery of a priceless Vermeer painting missing for decades. Allon teams up with a beautiful master thief and a Danish oil executive to recover the painting. The team ends up sidetracked in a race to stop the Russians from using a nuclear option against Ukraine. Even though retired, Allon enlists the assistance of his former colleagues of "the Office" so many of the usual characters once again appear in this novel,

The Cellist

 The Cellist by Daniel Silva 471 pp.

Even though I impatiently wait for the new Gabriel Allon books to be released, somehow I started but never finished this one. Maybe because all the veiled references to the then U.S. President and his criminal buddy, the Russian president. After the nerve agent poisoning of Viktor Orlov, an exiled Russian who once saved Allon's life, Gabriel is drawn into the investigation with British Intelligence. Believing the Brits are on the wrong track, Allon enlists the help of a talented young woman who worked for the dirtiest German bank, notorious for it's money laundering and other illegal activities. They set up a multi-billion dollar sting operation to catch the oligarch and childhood friend of the Russian president. The book ends with the inauguration of the new U.S. President following the insurrection at the Capitol when the Russians make one more attempt to eliminate Gabriel Allon. Following the novel is a chapter of commentary by Silva on the Trump attempts at overthrowing the election which he lost.   

The Order

The Order by Daniel Silva  496 pp.

In this, the latest Gabriel Allon tale, the suspicious death of the Pope distracts Mossad Director Allon from a much needed family vacation. Pope Paul VII, whose life was saved by Allon in The Messenger, dies in his chambers while his personal secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati is away from the Vatican. Because of the circumstances of the death and missing items from the Pope's study, Donati believes the Pope was murdered. He calls on his friend Allon to help investigate and together they learn of a plot by the secret Order of St. Helena, an organization with connections to the Nazis, to place the candidate of their choice as Pope and bolster the rise of their cause in Europe. Silva draws from today's headlines for much of the story's background. I only hope he is not as prescient as he was about the Arab Spring events in Portrait of a Spy. I usually read Silva's books as soon as it comes out and then wait impatiently for a year for the next one. I waited a bit before starting this one and now only have to wait 11 months. The audiobook was read by my favorite narrator, George Guidall, who does an excellent job, as always.

The New Girl

The New Girl by Daniel Silva  479 pp.

I swore I was not going to read this the instant it came out because then I would have to wait another year for the next one. I only made it a few days before I just had to read it. This is the 19th book in the series about the now Head of Mossad, Gabriel Allon. The "new girl" of the title is the daughter of the Saudi crown prince, Khalid ben Mohammed -- KBM for short. When his daughter is kidnapped from her exclusive private school in Switzerland the prince, in an unprecedented move, enlists the help of Gabriel Allon to find her. The usual characters from previous books return in this episode including Sara Bancroft, Graham Seymour, Christopher Keller, and the Mossad team of agents that are like family to fans of the series. I won't give any spoilers here but this is one of Silva's best. The introduction tells how Silva started this book over after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The afterward by the author, who once worked for the State Department, is a chilling warning of what changing alliances could do to the disturbing international political climate. Now I wait for the next book.

The Other Woman

The Other Woman by Daniel Silva, 474 pages.
Gabriel Allon, now head of Israel's secret service, is betrayed while trying to bring in a Russian defector. The defector is killed and Allon and his agency are blamed for the man's death and for operating in Austria. Allon must try to find the person selling them out to the Russians, and, you know, kill all the bad guys, and go home to his loving wife. It's all well-done, and relatively fun to read, but the secret twist seems obvious fairly early. Fans of  Silva and well-done spy novels will enjoy it.

The Other Woman

The Other Woman by Daniel Silva  476 pp.

This is the 18th book in the Gabriel Allon series and no, Gabriel is not having an affair although the title might suggest that. Silva has looked to the past to create a story of Russian double agents within Britain's MI6 intelligence organization. In 1963, Kim Philby defected to the U.S.S.R. after being one of a handful of Soviet spies working within British Intelligence. Fast forward to the current day and Philby's legacy is in line to become the next head of MI6. After a disastrous defection attempt by a Russian agent brings Israeli Intelligence under fire, Allon, now the head of Mossad, becomes directly involved in the investigation which just might destroy his career and that of Graham Seymour, head of MI6. I am a big fan of the Allon series but this is not my favorite. I can't say exactly what the problem is with this one, but it seems as if something was missing. However, one brief sentence points to the possibility of this enemy reentering Allon's life. And once again I will wait another year for the next installment.

House of Spies

House of Spies by Daniel Silva  526 pp.

This is the the latest in the Gabriel Allon series. Allon has taken over has the head of Mossad, the Israeli secret service. Being in charge but not actively involved is too hard for him, even after suffering serious injuries in a bomb attack. But he can't quite give up doing work in the field especially when the target is "Saladin" the terrorist mastermind who engineered the worst attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Saladin has continued his reign of terror with attacks on cities in Europe. Allon collaborates with the British, French, & Americans to track down and put a stop to Saladin's plans for further attacks. While all books in the Gabriel Allon series are connected, this one is a direct sequel to The Black Widow in which Saladin made his first deadly appearance. This story is a detailed and intricate tale with many of the "regular" characters from previous books in the series. Silva's commentary at the end of the book about how the Moroccan drug trade is helping fuel ISIS and how weapons are transported undetected gives a fact-based spin to the novel. I guess Daniel Silva can't quite give up his background as a journalist covering the Middle East. I listened to the audio book, excellently narrated by a master, George Guidall. I am a big fan of this series and once again I will impatiently wait for the next installment.

The Black Widow

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva  528 pp.

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.

The English Spy

The English Spy by Daniel Silva  484 pp.

What could be better than listening to an audiobook of the latest book by one of your favorite authors, about your favorite Mossad assassin, read by your favorite audiobook narrator? Gabriel Allon returns in the fifteenth book about his exploits as a Mossad operative, now soon to be the head of Israeli intelligence, a position he doesn't really want. After the yacht carrying a very Diana-like British princess is sunk by a terrorist bomb Allon and gun-for-hire ex-patriot Brit, Christopher Keller team up again to find Eamon Quinn, the former IRA bomber responsible for the bombing. This book is a sequel to The English Girl and the Russian Spy/British Prime Minister's mistress reappears as one of the targets of Quinn. While all this is happening, Allon's wife, Chiara, is at home in Israel awaiting the birth of their twins. While there are very brief appearances of the usual characters Ari Shamron, Uzi Navot, Eli Lavon, Dina, Rimona, and Mikhail along with Graham Seymour, head of British Intelligence, this book is really the Allon-Keller show. I'll not give away the ending but I will say it was amusing to see the serious and always focused Allon become a stereotypical nervous dad when the time comes for Chiara to go to the hospital. Now I must wait until next year for a new Allon story.

The Heist

The Heist by Daniel Silva 475 pp.

This is the latest installment in the Gabriel Allon series. Once again the Mossad agent/art restorer is busy restoring a masterpiece in Venice when his work is interrupted with espionage duties. The murder of a man well known for trading in stolen artwork is found brutally murdered and the Italian Art Police want Allon's help in finding a missing Caravaggio. The art investigation soon leads into tracking billions of dollars used to fund the Syrian civil war. Allon uses staff and resources of "the office" to mastermind a plan to steal the money. In the meantime Allon and his wife are awaiting the arrival of twins and Gabriel moving into his new position as the head of Mossad. The usual cast of characters play parts in the story although Ari Shamron only makes a brief appearance. This is one of my favorite series but I'm apprehensive about the next book to come because the beloved character of Shamron is failing in health and may not be part of the series much longer. But I know by the time the next one arrives I will be eager to read it.

The English Girl

The English Girl by Daniel Silva  482 pp.

I am a huge fan of the Gabriel Allon series and I don't know how it happened that I never finished this one when it came out last year. It's almost time for the newest book in the series to come out so I pulled it out to finish it. Once again Mossad agent Gabriel Allon is pulled away from restoring a painting into the world of foreign intrigue. This time he agrees to do a favor for his MI5 friend Graham Seymour, a favor which involves finding a kidnapped young Englishwoman who just happens to be the mistress of the British Prime Minister. Things go horribly wrong and Allon finds himself in Russia once again in a plot twist involving the former Russian KGB and an oil company. This episode starts off a bit slow and slowly builds up momentum to go places you don't expect. I've already pre-ordered a signed copy of the next book, The Heist.