Portrait Of A Spy (Gabriel Allon #11) – Daniel Silva

For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London – a visit to a gallery in St. James’s to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds.

Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted “a beautiful and seductive tongue.” A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks.

Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past. A woman waits there—a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood. . . .

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Espionage
Publisher:  Harper
Year: 2011
Rating: 4/5

This novel is the eleventh installment in the Gabriel Allon series and Silva once again proves he is the best writer of modern spy fiction. 

Set across continents, Portrait of a Spy follows my all-time favourite Israeli secret agent as he fights terrorism, saves lives, countries and democracy.... all while restoring ancient artwork and making the ladies swoon. What more could you ask for in a novel? (or a man?, ahahaha).

Besides the great Gabriel, Silva's novels are also appealing as they are up to date and set in current times. Silva does a great job of using the current international political climate as a backdrop for his stories. Not only is it enjoyable reading a fun and exciting read, but it's great reading something that "could" be happening right now. 

There are some things about this novel that I expected. Silva has a formula that he never fails to use in this series. Gabriel doesn't want to be a spy, he just wants to restore paintings. He unwillingly gets drawn back into the Israeli secret service because he can't stand back and watch people get hurt, he just has to help. But this time will be the last time (uhuh).

Gabriel then reassembles his work family and they bond over bloodshed and their desire to bring down the baddies. Soon a lot of stuff goes down and Gabriel ends up being nabbed by the enemy, but he survives. He then saves the day, swears never to work for the service again and returns to his paintings. Til next time.

Despite that formula making these novels predictable, they are still good reads. I just can't get enough!

This novel is not only a must read for all Silva fans, but for anyone who loves international spy thrillers! Pick up a copy of one of Silva's novels. You won't be disappointed.

The Rembrandt Affair - Daniel Silva

This has been a good month for me. Karin Slaughter, author of my favourite crime series, released book number 7 in the Grant County series and Daniel Silva, author of my favourite thriller series, released book number 10 in the Gabriel Allon series, The Rembrandt Affair. Awesome.

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Crime, Espionage, Art
Publisher: Century
Year: 2010
Rating: 4/5

Determined to sever his ties with the office, Gabriel Allon has retreated to the windswept  cliffs of Cornwall with his beautiful wife, Chiara. But once again his seclusion is interrupted by a visitor from his tangled past: the endearing eccentric London art dealer Julian Isherwood. As usual, Isherwood has a problem. And only Gabriel can solve it. 

In Glastonbury, an art restorer is brutally murdered and a long-lost portrait by Rembrandt mysteriously stolen. Despite his reluctance, Gabriel is persuaded to use his unique skills to search for the painting and those responsible for the crime. But as he painstakingly follows a trail of clues leading from Amsterdam to Buenos Aires and, finally to a villa on the graceful shores of Lake Geneva, Gabriel discovers there are deadly secrets connected to the painting. And evil men behind them. 

Gabriel will once again be drawn into a world he thought he had left behind for ever, and will come face to face with a remarkable cast of characters: a glamorous London journalist who is determined to undo the worst mistake of her career, an elusive master art thief who is burdened by a conscience and a powerful Swiss billionaire who is known for his good deeds but may just be behind one of the greatest threats facing the world. 

Keeping true to Gabriel Allon, this novel did not disappoint. It was full of mystery, action and suspense which made me want to keep turning the pages. It's the kind of book where you keep telling yourself, 'just one more chapter'. 

I love the character of Gabriel Allon. He is a sensitive art restorer, a romantic and an extremely skilled and lethal Israeli spy. He has a strong sense of morals, always willing to hunt down evil men and bring them to justice... even if that justice is the muzzle of his gun. He is damaged, not only by the things he has had to do in his life, but by the legacy left to him by his mother who was a holocaust survivor. Gabriel Allon is one complex character.

This novel, like Gabriel Allon, is multi-layered. We begin with a stolen painting but soon find that behind this painting lies a secret and a web of lies, spanning generations. We are taken on a journey through a child holocaust survivors guilt to the mansion of a billionaire. A billionaire who portrays himself to be the perfect saint, but little does the world know, his billions are built on the deaths of millions, with many more deaths to come.

Can Gabriel and his team find the Rembrandt? Can they bring this billionaire down before he causes more destruction? Can they overcome the many obstacles in their way to get at a man who is heavily guarded by some of the most ruthless body guards in Switzerland? Can they save Israel from a major threat, a threat which could wipe them out completely?

If you love a good mystery, thriller or tale of espionage then you will love this novel. I recommend this series to anyone who loves a good, fun read! The best part about it, you don't have to start at the beginning to get into it, each book makes sense as a stand-alone, but they are so good, you will want to read them all!

The Defector - Daniel Silva

The Defector is the ninth novel in the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva. This series is about a man who is an agent and assassin for the Mossad, the secret service in Israel. When undercover he works as an art restorer, bringing life back to ancient paintings. I am a massive fan of this series and eagerly await the release of each new book. I actually made my way to the store the day this book was released to snap up a copy! I was very excited and it took a lot of self composure not to do a happy dance around the store!

In this book, Gabriel is happily married to his new wife Chiara, recovering from the mission that he undertook in the previous book, (assignment: bring down a Russian oligarch and arms dealer, Ivan Kharkov). Unfortunately for Gabriel, Kharkov is not happy and is hell bent on revenge. Not only revenge towards Gabriel, but also against the defector, the former Russian intelligence officer Grigori Bulganov who saved Gabriel’s life and helped Ivan’s wife and children escape to America.

Now Gabriel must once again race against time to save innocent lives and come face to face with the Russian oligarch to try and finish this once and for all.

Gabriel Allon brought down the most dangerous man in the world. But he made one mistake. Leaving him alive…

Spy turned art restorer Gabriel Allon is trying to resume his honeymoon in the secluded hills of Umbria with his new wife, Chiara, when shocking news reaches him from London. The defector and former Russian intelligence officer, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow Rules, has vanished without a trace. British intelligence suspect the defector was always a double agent, but Gabriel is convinced otherwise.

Gabriel and his team find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wits with one of the world’s most ruthless men: the murderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. It will take Gabriel from a quiet mews in London to the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich and, finally, to a heart-stopping climax in the snowbound birch forests of Russia. Faced with the prospect of losing the one thing he holds most dear, Gabriel will be tested in ways he never imagined possible. And his life will never be the same.

Like all Daniel Silva books this novel is a real page turner, it is faced paced, full of drama and suspense. It carries on the story from the last novel really well (that said, you could pick up any Gabriel Allon novel and read it as a stand alone as everything is always explained). I started reading this series with The Confessor, the third novel in the series which is about the Vatican’s true response to the Holocaust, and enjoyed it so much I quickly grabbed copies of all the other novels in this series and devoured them all. Since then I have been addicted. My only criticism is now I have to wait another 12 months for the next novel in this series!

Rating 5/5