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katealfrey's review
3.0
I'm constantly amazed at how much I enjoy reading about the exploits of Gabriel Allon despite the fact that my sympathy for Israel is fleeting at best. This one did get fewer stars because of that, because Silva's portrayal of Israeli exceltionalism finally got to be a bit much for me to take. The story, however, was magnificent. I enjoyed it thoroughly, from cover to cover.
shannismcewen's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this one. Gabriel Allon is such a badass.
lukre's review against another edition
4.0
I love Daniel Silva - such simple writing but so rich in ideas. There are some amazing insights into the world of global politics and power struggles.
And reading it from today's perspective, with all the unrest in the Middle-East and the rise of new militant groups like ISIS, this books is prophetic at times.
In addition to this, it is also so much fun at times. You just want to keep reading and reading. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and at times it even makes you almost vomit with all the raw violence...
I'll definitely keep on reading this series.
“But I’ve come to realize that this continent is dying a slow death. Europe is receding quietly into history. It’s old and tired, and its young are so pessimistic about the prospects of the future they refuse to have enough children to ensure their own survival. They believe in nothing but their thirty-five-hour workweek and their August vacation.”
"A spy's life, he thought. Mind-numbing boredom broken by brief interludes of sheer terror."
And reading it from today's perspective, with all the unrest in the Middle-East and the rise of new militant groups like ISIS, this books is prophetic at times.
In addition to this, it is also so much fun at times. You just want to keep reading and reading. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and at times it even makes you almost vomit with all the raw violence...
I'll definitely keep on reading this series.
“But I’ve come to realize that this continent is dying a slow death. Europe is receding quietly into history. It’s old and tired, and its young are so pessimistic about the prospects of the future they refuse to have enough children to ensure their own survival. They believe in nothing but their thirty-five-hour workweek and their August vacation.”
"A spy's life, he thought. Mind-numbing boredom broken by brief interludes of sheer terror."
maniereads's review against another edition
3.0
After reading five of these novels, I can clearly discern a pattern in the plot lines.
Step A: Huge disaster.
Step B: Call brilliant main character to solver problem.
Step C: Team building montage.
Step D: Someone gets kidnapped/tortured.
Step E: Good guys make a horrible, amateur mistake.
Step F: Good guys win, killing a ton of people.
Step G: A few small vignettes explaining the covert operations tying up loose ends, which can include a wedding, the sale of a famous painting, a sniper hit, or most commonly, blowing something up.
The end.
Step A: Huge disaster.
Step B: Call brilliant main character to solver problem.
Step C: Team building montage.
Step D: Someone gets kidnapped/tortured.
Step E: Good guys make a horrible, amateur mistake.
Step F: Good guys win, killing a ton of people.
Step G: A few small vignettes explaining the covert operations tying up loose ends, which can include a wedding, the sale of a famous painting, a sniper hit, or most commonly, blowing something up.
The end.
skinnypenguin's review against another edition
4.0
Gabriel Allon an Israeli assassin is called back into action when the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to England is kidnapped. He travels to England, Denmark, the Netherlands and other places chasing what he thinks are the kidnappers. He was in Amsterdam investigating the death of an Israeli informant which led him to England and he witnessed the kidnapping and tried to stop it. He involves a man he met in Amsterdam and finds out it is his son who is involved with the kidnappers. The British government and the Americans are assisting.
The kidnappers actually have no intent to release the hostage even though they are making ransom demands. They are terrorists and have already set off several other coordinated attacks causing death and destruction. They want a sheik released from American captivity but know that wont happen. The mastermind is staying far away from the action but they are trying to track him also.
Gabriel's wedding plans have been put on hold while he works this case. His life is in danger as the terrorists want to kill him for interfering during the kidnapping. In the end things work out.
Really like this series. The author brings up lots of good topics such as all the people who live in England and other European countries that are becoming terrorists and how hidden they are. They have become part of the country and it is hard to find them. The plots are always very intricate and lots of research has gone into them.
The kidnappers actually have no intent to release the hostage even though they are making ransom demands. They are terrorists and have already set off several other coordinated attacks causing death and destruction. They want a sheik released from American captivity but know that wont happen. The mastermind is staying far away from the action but they are trying to track him also.
Gabriel's wedding plans have been put on hold while he works this case. His life is in danger as the terrorists want to kill him for interfering during the kidnapping. In the end things work out.
Really like this series. The author brings up lots of good topics such as all the people who live in England and other European countries that are becoming terrorists and how hidden they are. They have become part of the country and it is hard to find them. The plots are always very intricate and lots of research has gone into them.
indiescribe's review against another edition
3.0
Expected plot. Though, it is entertaining to a degree, Daniel Silva's 7th still suffers from the lack of last-minute high spots.
avigail's review against another edition
4.0
This book I had a lot of years on my shelves unread. While I reorgnised a little my shelves and decided to put it up front so when I am in the mood for somethingof the genre mystery, crime and the political situation in the Middle East or even the world.
Even though the book is the seventh of the series you can read them out of order. I think that I want to start the series in order, because there are parts that Daniel Silva refers and I don't understand. I love the writing of Daniel Silva, because he mixes facts with fiction in a very special way, the book flies by even though its complexity.
These books are so current with all the situation with ISS, "Arab Spring" and everything that happens in the Middle East as well as the world.
If you want something different with a lot of action, friendships, secret bureaus and politics this book and series is for you.
It is a very good read for me. I don't write anything about the plot because it is better to read it without knowing what is happening. None of Daniel Silava's books I read I didn't look up what they were about I entered and flew by them.
Even though the book is the seventh of the series you can read them out of order. I think that I want to start the series in order, because there are parts that Daniel Silva refers and I don't understand. I love the writing of Daniel Silva, because he mixes facts with fiction in a very special way, the book flies by even though its complexity.
These books are so current with all the situation with ISS, "Arab Spring" and everything that happens in the Middle East as well as the world.
If you want something different with a lot of action, friendships, secret bureaus and politics this book and series is for you.
It is a very good read for me. I don't write anything about the plot because it is better to read it without knowing what is happening. None of Daniel Silava's books I read I didn't look up what they were about I entered and flew by them.
dylancampbell's review against another edition
4.0
Another riveting installment featuring one of my favourite characters, the illustrious Gabriel Allon. As always, a fast-paced edge-of-your-seat political thriller.
ssindc's review against another edition
4.0
Perfect page turner (and a gratifying installment in a solid series) for some over-the-pond travel. And, rather than getting bored with the series, I find it's growing on me (or, of course, the author is becoming more comfortable with his material ... or both). This one may not have been as informative as some of the others, and it lacks the heft of the holocaust-themed trilogy that anchors the first half-dozen books in the series, but (or conversely) I thought (possibly because it was a tad "lighter" or less encumbered than some of the others) it rollicked along a nice clip....
Like other books in the series, the book contains enough history and historical fiction so that readers can pat themselves on the back for learning ... something ... about historical events and political/social/global issues and relations. (OK, let's not get carried away ... the author provides just enough history/context to make readers feel less guilty for getting sucked into a shoot-em-up mischief-and-mayhem scramble...) For folks who like their action/chase/drama reading sprinkled with travel, the series tends to cover a lot of ground, but this one bounces around more than most, containing enough frenetic border-hopping to satisfying those with serious armchair wanderlust.... The same disclaimers apply here consistent with the earlier books - these books aren't high literature, and they weren't written for pacifists, the squeamish (OK, the violence can get a tad graphic at times), and I wouldn't recommend them to anti-Semites (particularly Western European anti-Semites) or folks firmly opposed (or fundamentally unsympathetic) to the State of Israel or Israel's plight, right to exist, right to defend itself, etc. But that should be obvious, right?
Of course, I'm NOT recommending that anyone start here - I've enjoyed the series (so far) in order, and there are a number of (highly) significant aspects of the story-line that build upon prior books. Sure, in any series, the number of characters ebbs and flows, and you can get by without the cumulative background or pre-requisites, but my sense is that I wouldn't have appreciated a number of the sub-plots in this one if I hadn't previously consumer the prior books.
One minor quibble - Silva likes to add little stingers or post-climax vignettes (not quite epilogues, but more along the lines of supplemental endings) ... almost like, oh, and by the way, let me trim this dangling thread too before I go.... I can't help but analogize to the teasers after the credits in the big-screen Marvel movies ... here, it seemed like the book "ended" three times, in rapidly accelerating order. Granted, each of the endings made sense, and felt right, and were consistent with the book/characters/series .... but sometimes (like in this case) the shorter endings are so abrupt/jarring that they're more disconcerting than gratifying. But hey, it's not the first time, so....
I expect I'll get to the next installment sooner rather than later.
Like other books in the series, the book contains enough history and historical fiction so that readers can pat themselves on the back for learning ... something ... about historical events and political/social/global issues and relations. (OK, let's not get carried away ... the author provides just enough history/context to make readers feel less guilty for getting sucked into a shoot-em-up mischief-and-mayhem scramble...) For folks who like their action/chase/drama reading sprinkled with travel, the series tends to cover a lot of ground, but this one bounces around more than most, containing enough frenetic border-hopping to satisfying those with serious armchair wanderlust.... The same disclaimers apply here consistent with the earlier books - these books aren't high literature, and they weren't written for pacifists, the squeamish (OK, the violence can get a tad graphic at times), and I wouldn't recommend them to anti-Semites (particularly Western European anti-Semites) or folks firmly opposed (or fundamentally unsympathetic) to the State of Israel or Israel's plight, right to exist, right to defend itself, etc. But that should be obvious, right?
Of course, I'm NOT recommending that anyone start here - I've enjoyed the series (so far) in order, and there are a number of (highly) significant aspects of the story-line that build upon prior books. Sure, in any series, the number of characters ebbs and flows, and you can get by without the cumulative background or pre-requisites, but my sense is that I wouldn't have appreciated a number of the sub-plots in this one if I hadn't previously consumer the prior books.
One minor quibble - Silva likes to add little stingers or post-climax vignettes (not quite epilogues, but more along the lines of supplemental endings) ... almost like, oh, and by the way, let me trim this dangling thread too before I go.... I can't help but analogize to the teasers after the credits in the big-screen Marvel movies ... here, it seemed like the book "ended" three times, in rapidly accelerating order. Granted, each of the endings made sense, and felt right, and were consistent with the book/characters/series .... but sometimes (like in this case) the shorter endings are so abrupt/jarring that they're more disconcerting than gratifying. But hey, it's not the first time, so....
I expect I'll get to the next installment sooner rather than later.
hlandes1's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this - a great plot set in England and Denmark. Silva has done a great job developing Gabriel Allon and his team. I would rate this one 3.5 - the ending fell a bit flat compared to the action throughout the book. I'm sure it will pick up in book 8...