Book Review - The Messenger by Daniel Silva
Category Book Reviews
This book was on my library hold list for quite awhile, and it made for pretty good reading... The Messenger by Daniel Silva.
Gabriel Allon is a spy with the Israeli Mossad, while also maintaining his status as one of the world's best art restorers. He's been sidelined for awhile due to a messy episode in his past, and he's trying to maintain a low profile. He starts to get pulled back in when money links between the Saudis and terrorists are discovered, as well as a suicide and rocket attack on the Vatican. He's completely on board when an attempted car bombing nearly kills a fellow Mossad agent. Allon wants revenge, and he's willing to risk quite a bit to get it. The money flow is coming from a prominent Saudi who maintains tight security and a legitimate business empire. The main terrorist that Allon is after is linked to the Saudi, but hasn't been tracked or identified in many years. Allon uses the Saudi's love of art to get someone on the inside of the business operation as an art director. Her job is to identify the terrorist so that he can be taken out. But things go awry when the Mossad tracking is discovered, and she's about to be tortured and killed for her knowledge of the plot. Allon has to rescue her while still dealing with the terror plot that has uncovered a plan to attack the Vatican again...
As far as spy novels go, this one was pretty good. The pacing was just about perfect, in that there were not a lot of side stories that distracted from the main plot. This is apparently part of a series involving the Allon character, but this is the first one I've read. While it might have been a bit more colorful if I knew the history behind the person, it didn't distract much from the enjoyment of this particular episode. I was a little confused about how the Mossad tracking was discovered, in that it sort of just "happened". Still, it wasn't that strange that I got hung up on it.
Based on what I saw here, I'd definitely consider going back and catching up on prior installments...
This book was on my library hold list for quite awhile, and it made for pretty good reading... The Messenger by Daniel Silva.
Gabriel Allon is a spy with the Israeli Mossad, while also maintaining his status as one of the world's best art restorers. He's been sidelined for awhile due to a messy episode in his past, and he's trying to maintain a low profile. He starts to get pulled back in when money links between the Saudis and terrorists are discovered, as well as a suicide and rocket attack on the Vatican. He's completely on board when an attempted car bombing nearly kills a fellow Mossad agent. Allon wants revenge, and he's willing to risk quite a bit to get it. The money flow is coming from a prominent Saudi who maintains tight security and a legitimate business empire. The main terrorist that Allon is after is linked to the Saudi, but hasn't been tracked or identified in many years. Allon uses the Saudi's love of art to get someone on the inside of the business operation as an art director. Her job is to identify the terrorist so that he can be taken out. But things go awry when the Mossad tracking is discovered, and she's about to be tortured and killed for her knowledge of the plot. Allon has to rescue her while still dealing with the terror plot that has uncovered a plan to attack the Vatican again...
As far as spy novels go, this one was pretty good. The pacing was just about perfect, in that there were not a lot of side stories that distracted from the main plot. This is apparently part of a series involving the Allon character, but this is the first one I've read. While it might have been a bit more colorful if I knew the history behind the person, it didn't distract much from the enjoyment of this particular episode. I was a little confused about how the Mossad tracking was discovered, in that it sort of just "happened". Still, it wasn't that strange that I got hung up on it.
Based on what I saw here, I'd definitely consider going back and catching up on prior installments...
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Comments
Posted by skip At 06:15:58 On 03/01/2007 | - Website - |
Allon was sloppy to think or not think that putting his full team on location with Sarah Bancroft visible, walking around, swimming and talking to Sarah, spilling drinks on the target, etc etc all in front of half a dozen experienced, seasoned, security experts. We all knew they would be discovered and Sarah would be ........
In Silva's books Allon seems to think and act like he is invizable, indistructable, and on a mission for God who will cover everything he does.
Posted by Martin E. Lee At 16:10:52 On 16/01/2010 | - Website - |