Late last year I happened to pick-up a copy of The Rembrandt Affair, the latest book in Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series, and was immediately transfixed. After finishing it I immediately read, in order, the first nine books in the series and then re-read number ten. There is a post on Silva's Facebook page that very few series/characters can stand up to such a compressed reading, and I totally agree. Silva has deservedly been placed on par with John le Carré and has been called by many his generation’s finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest American spy novelists ever.
As a VERY brief introduction, Gabriel Allon is an agent/assassin for the Office, the intelligence agency for the State of Israel. He is recruited following the Munich massacre from his vocation as an artist, and his expertise as a world-class art restorer features prominently in several of the books.
Within the series there are two internal trilogies. The first consists of The English Assassin, The Confessor, and A Death in Vienna and together they examine what Silva calls the "unfinished business of the Holocaust." The English Assassin deals with Nazi art looting and the actions (and inactions) of Switzerland during World War II. The Confessor addresses the role of the Roman Catholic Church, in general, and Pope Pius XII, specifically, during the Holocaust. A Death in Vienna is centered around Gabriel's attempt to bring to justice a Nazi war criminal, one whom his mother encountered on the Death March from Auschwitz in 1945.
The second internal trilogy consists of Prince of Fire, The Messenger, and The Secret Servant and deals with terrorism in the modern world. Prince of Fire explores the roots of Palestinian terrorism through a story of revenge, The Messenger takes a hard look at the role Saudi Arabia played in creating al-Qaeda and its affiliates, and The Secret Servant surveys the rise of militant Islam in Europe.
Silva has constructed the series so each book stands alone, but suffice it to say that the reader will get much more from the series if the books are read in order. The series is full of deep and colorful characterizations and it is these characters and their special relationships that help to give these stories their high degree of intensity.
The books in order:
If you're looking for page-turners to keep you up until all hours, these are for you!
As a VERY brief introduction, Gabriel Allon is an agent/assassin for the Office, the intelligence agency for the State of Israel. He is recruited following the Munich massacre from his vocation as an artist, and his expertise as a world-class art restorer features prominently in several of the books.
Within the series there are two internal trilogies. The first consists of The English Assassin, The Confessor, and A Death in Vienna and together they examine what Silva calls the "unfinished business of the Holocaust." The English Assassin deals with Nazi art looting and the actions (and inactions) of Switzerland during World War II. The Confessor addresses the role of the Roman Catholic Church, in general, and Pope Pius XII, specifically, during the Holocaust. A Death in Vienna is centered around Gabriel's attempt to bring to justice a Nazi war criminal, one whom his mother encountered on the Death March from Auschwitz in 1945.
The second internal trilogy consists of Prince of Fire, The Messenger, and The Secret Servant and deals with terrorism in the modern world. Prince of Fire explores the roots of Palestinian terrorism through a story of revenge, The Messenger takes a hard look at the role Saudi Arabia played in creating al-Qaeda and its affiliates, and The Secret Servant surveys the rise of militant Islam in Europe.
Silva has constructed the series so each book stands alone, but suffice it to say that the reader will get much more from the series if the books are read in order. The series is full of deep and colorful characterizations and it is these characters and their special relationships that help to give these stories their high degree of intensity.
The books in order:
- The Kill Artist
- The English Assassin
- The Confessor
- A Death in Vienna
- Prince of Fire
- The Messenger
- The Secret Servant
- Moscow Rules
- The Defector
- The Rembrandt Affair
- Portrait of a Spy
If you're looking for page-turners to keep you up until all hours, these are for you!
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