The Heist by Daniel Silva

The latest Gabriel Allon, The Heist by Daniel Silva, was released in July, but I was just able to get it from the library this week. I've enjoyed the Gabriel Allon series, although I have to admit I was starting to get tired of Allon getting into near death situations in every book. Yes, I understand that he is a spy and risking his life, but having it happen in every book was straining credulity.

The Heist is different from some of the other Allons is that there isn't a terror attack behind the action in the book. Instead, Allon is pulled into an investigation of a former diplomat's death because Allon's friend, Julian Isherwood finds the body. The diplomat turned out to be a former spy, turned rogue, who was now in the business of selling stolen masterpieces. Allon's role is to find the Caravaggio that was rumored to be in the possession of the dead man. What Allon finds is that the man was onto the Syrian president hiding away funds for his future use. Allon is determined to track down the funds and remove them. Also, he wants to find the Caravaggio. In order to gain access to the money, Allon recruits a girl who works for the investment officer who is hiding the fund for the Syrian president. The girl is a Syrian whose family was massacred in Hama as threats to the president of Syria.

As I mentioned, this book is different from the others because Allon isn't being tortured to near death. At times though, the story just seemed to drag along. The overall plot was interesting, but I think there could have been more action and less repetition. I think Silva needs to take a break from Allon, especially since Allon is moving into more of a managerial role in the Israeli secret services. Perhaps, he can revisit the Michael Osbourne character.

The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva

I have been a fan of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon for years. Every summer, I look forward to the latest installment. I do admit that I was starting to get slightly tired of Allon being beaten to near death, so I was really looking forward to The Fallen Angel.

The Fallen Angel had Allon back in Rome, restoring a Caravaggio for the Vatican. Pope Paul VII and his right hand man, Monsignor Luigi Donati returned as main characters in the story. I liked the other book that involved the Vatican, Pope Paul VII, and Donati, The Messenger. Allon was asked to investigate the possible suicide of a young woman who worked in the Vatican unit that investigated the ownership of Vatican relics. Her job was to determine if other countries might have a claim to the relics. Allon determined that the suicide was really a murder, and it lead him on a long, twisted journey into stolen antiquities and plots against the Pope and the Jews. The Arab terrorist groups weren’t happy with the Pope supporting the Jewish people. Allon raced against time to keep the Pope and the state of Israel safe.

I really enjoyed The Fallen Angel. I liked that Allon wasn’t at death’s door or that Chiara, Allon’s wife, wasn’t being terrorized. The action was well paced, and I found myself engrossed in the story. Silva told a great story, and he put in all the news about the region, with references to the Arab Spring and Muslim Brotherhood. If you haven’t read a Daniel Silva, you can start with The Fallen Angel. Although the characters have a back story from the other books, Silva recounts enough of it so the reader can enjoy the current book without reading the others. I would strongly recommend The Fallen Angel to anyone who loves contemporary action thrillers.

The Marching Season by Daniel Silva

I just finished reading The Marching Season by Daniel Silva. It's the second, and unfortunately last, book in the Michael Osbourne series. Silva is known for his spy books, especially the Gabriel Allon series. Allon is the Israeli spy who keeps Israel and the world safe by killing terrorists. Michael Osbourne is a different kettle of fish. He's a CIA operative, and definitely doesn't feel easy about killing others. The action preys on his soul. The first book in the Osbourne series was The Mark of the Assassin. In that book, we are introduced to a secret organization that is trying to influence events in the world by creating terror. In that book, an airliner is blown out of the sky so a US businessman can sell his Star Wars type security system to the US people and government. The assassin is a man code-named October, Jean Paul Delaroche, who killed Osbourne's love many years ago. In Mark of the Assassin, October came after Osbourne and his wife Elizabeth.

In The Marching Season, we join Osbourne a year after Mark of the Assassin. Osbourne is now retired from the CIA, and he and Elizabeth are the happy parent of twins. Osbourne is feeling the strain of retirement and isn't as happy as he was when he worked for the CIA. But things are about to change! Elizabeth's father, former Senator Douglas Cannon, is offered the post of US ambassador to England after a series of terrorist acts in the UK, which were meant to spoil the peace in Northern Ireland. Considering that the book was published in 1999, it's not such an unlikely scenario. Osbourne gets pulled back into the CIA to protect his father-in-law from possible assassination, and October gets pulled back into his role as assassin by the Society, who believes that killing Osbourne and his father-in-law would really disrupt peace, and eliminate Osbourne, who has become a real pain in the neck.

It's so obvious that Silva used the Osbourne books as a springboard for the Allon books. Adrian Carter, Graham Seymour, and Shamron are cross-over characters in both series. Delaroche/October has some of the physical and personality characteristics of Gabriel Allon, including being an artist. The Marching Season is a very good book, full of thrills. I found myself quickly moving through the pages when I had time to read, which wasn't much over the past week or so. Silva made Delaroche/October into a sympathetic character. Although I didn't want him to succeed in killing Osbourne, I did want Delaroche to survive and some how find happiness. In The Marching Season, I did get the sense of closure for both Osbourne and Delaroche, and I was very happy. I wish that there were more Michael Osbourne books, but I guess that I will just have to satisfy myself with the Gabriel Allon series.