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awaters99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
jacki_f's review against another edition
3.0
This is the 8th book in the Gabriel Allon series which I have been gradually working my way through. Like so many successful series, it has many formulaic aspects. In itself that's not a criticism. When I read a Jack Reacher book for example, I know what I'm looking for and I'd be gutted if Reacher suddenly decided he needed a buddy sidekick to travel with and/or left a woman in distress to fend for herself. The trick is to maintain the formula without the reader feeling like they are reading the same book again and again. It's a fine line to tread and at times in Moscow Rules I felt that Silva had nailed it, but at other times I felt it was simply too predictable how it was going to unfold.
Essentially the formula is this: we open with Gabriel Allon, the emerald eyed Mossad super-spy and art restorer, hoping to have some time out and a quiet life with the "riotously" haired Chiara. He gets called on by Shamron to do a simple task - meet with a contact/clear out an office/assess a situation - which escalates into something more complicated. Always. Then somehow Allon, despite his pig-headed bumbling ways and the fact that every spy agency and policeforce worldwide know exactly who he is, is the only man for the job. He assembles his usual team, each described with the same adjectives everytime. They underestimate their opposition and things spiral out of control. Allon heroically and needlessly puts his body on the line and needs someone to step in and save him. Everyone nevertheless thinks that Allon is a hero and he is told to take some well deserved time out.
Moscow Rules follows this familiar path, though I have to say for the most part it's a rollicking good read. I enjoyed the Russian villains and the investigative work that went into finding out what they were up to. However it all fell apart in the final quarter. I didn't believe that their source would have been turned so easily and completely. Allon's plan is hugely flawed and doomed from the outset. Thankfully the villains make an equally stupid and unlikely decision. Then a character that we barely know comes out of left field to be a hero. It all felt so lazy and a let down from the very good first three quarters.
Essentially the formula is this: we open with Gabriel Allon, the emerald eyed Mossad super-spy and art restorer, hoping to have some time out and a quiet life with the "riotously" haired Chiara. He gets called on by Shamron to do a simple task - meet with a contact/clear out an office/assess a situation - which escalates into something more complicated. Always. Then somehow Allon, despite his pig-headed bumbling ways and the fact that every spy agency and policeforce worldwide know exactly who he is, is the only man for the job. He assembles his usual team, each described with the same adjectives everytime. They underestimate their opposition and things spiral out of control. Allon heroically and needlessly puts his body on the line and needs someone to step in and save him. Everyone nevertheless thinks that Allon is a hero and he is told to take some well deserved time out.
Moscow Rules follows this familiar path, though I have to say for the most part it's a rollicking good read. I enjoyed the Russian villains and the investigative work that went into finding out what they were up to. However it all fell apart in the final quarter. I didn't believe that their source would have been turned so easily and completely. Allon's plan is hugely flawed and doomed from the outset. Thankfully the villains make an equally stupid and unlikely decision. Then a character that we barely know comes out of left field to be a hero. It all felt so lazy and a let down from the very good first three quarters.
hopecaldwell's review against another edition
3.0
picked this up while traveling. Part of the Gabriel Allon series - nice escapism.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
I was thinking early on that maybe I’d give this series a rest, but suddenly Russia is knocking at Ukraine’s Border and assisting Belarus’s dictator, Lukashenko, to squelch revolution and this book is so relevant! And what about Navalny?
historybooksandtea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
2.0
It's a particularly apt time to be reading Daniel Silva's espionage thriller MOSCOW RULES, given the recent re-release of Eric Ambler's early espionage works from just before the start of the second world war. Particularly apt as the Moscow Rules of the title, is a hat tip to John le Carre's classic novel Smiley's People - Le Carre having acknowledged Ambler as one of the influential pioneers of the genre.
MOSCOW RULES follows, therefore, a significant body of espionage thriller books. The central protagonist Gabriel Allon follows in the footprints of some incredibly strong characters, although as a part-time art restorer, part-time spy Allon is a slightly different take on the norm. In MOSCOW RULES Allon and his new wife are attempting to have a honeymoon when he's summoned back to meet with a Russian journalist who will only talk to him. The violent death of that journalist takes Allon into new Russia - awash with new money and old enemies. Allon must stop a plot to deliver Russia's most sophisticated weapon to al-Qaeda before it's too late.
I'm not adverse to a bit of good old fashioned espionage, spying, cloak and dagger doings as might be guessed from my overall reading habits. Unfortunately, not having read any of the other books in this series definitely put this reader at a bit of a disadvantage. Sorting out who Allon was; how he fits in with what seems to be an ongoing cast of characters; where the art restoring fitted; and other elements of his back story required a fair amount of effort, and as such I was frequently having to go back and remind myself of plot points and elements of the overall story, which made reading this book a little more time consuming than it would have been had I started somewhere earlier in the series.
Overall I did find that I was engaged by the storytelling, and I did like what I could glean about Allon. Perhaps reading earlier books would have helped as the plot here is very dense with lots of things going on, and sorting out the personalities and the who's who at the same time was very distracting. If you've read earlier books in the series I suspect that MOSCOW RULES will be another favourite for you. Perhaps, if like me you've not had the pleasure before, it might work better if you start a little earlier in the series, as I now intend to do.
The Gabriel Allon series is made up of the following books:
The Kill Artist
The English Assassin
The Confessor
A Death in Venice
Prince of Fire
The Messenger
The Secret Servant
Moscow Rules
The Defector (July 2009)
MOSCOW RULES follows, therefore, a significant body of espionage thriller books. The central protagonist Gabriel Allon follows in the footprints of some incredibly strong characters, although as a part-time art restorer, part-time spy Allon is a slightly different take on the norm. In MOSCOW RULES Allon and his new wife are attempting to have a honeymoon when he's summoned back to meet with a Russian journalist who will only talk to him. The violent death of that journalist takes Allon into new Russia - awash with new money and old enemies. Allon must stop a plot to deliver Russia's most sophisticated weapon to al-Qaeda before it's too late.
I'm not adverse to a bit of good old fashioned espionage, spying, cloak and dagger doings as might be guessed from my overall reading habits. Unfortunately, not having read any of the other books in this series definitely put this reader at a bit of a disadvantage. Sorting out who Allon was; how he fits in with what seems to be an ongoing cast of characters; where the art restoring fitted; and other elements of his back story required a fair amount of effort, and as such I was frequently having to go back and remind myself of plot points and elements of the overall story, which made reading this book a little more time consuming than it would have been had I started somewhere earlier in the series.
Overall I did find that I was engaged by the storytelling, and I did like what I could glean about Allon. Perhaps reading earlier books would have helped as the plot here is very dense with lots of things going on, and sorting out the personalities and the who's who at the same time was very distracting. If you've read earlier books in the series I suspect that MOSCOW RULES will be another favourite for you. Perhaps, if like me you've not had the pleasure before, it might work better if you start a little earlier in the series, as I now intend to do.
The Gabriel Allon series is made up of the following books:
The Kill Artist
The English Assassin
The Confessor
A Death in Venice
Prince of Fire
The Messenger
The Secret Servant
Moscow Rules
The Defector (July 2009)
tensy's review against another edition
3.0
I listened to the audio version. The narrator of these Silva books is wonderful and does a fine job of modulating different accents. This was not one of my favorite of the Gabriel Alon series, but Silva does such a terrific job of developing his characters that I will definitely be back for the next one.
jannenemarie's review against another edition
3.0
It was slow at times and I think some of it could have been cut out. The ending leaves you hanging but I gather will tie in with the next book.
downby1's review against another edition
3.0
I am not entirely sure Moscow Rules was the best book to pick up as my first brush with either Daniel Silva or Gabriel Allon. On a whole, Moscow Rules was not bad, but I found it incredibly difficult to find any outstanding marks. This is a pulp spy novel that will make for good beach reading or something to take in while putting up with the hectic task air travel has become.
susangiardina's review against another edition
5.0
Moscow Rules is fantastic! It had me riveted from the beginning, and left me very concerned. One of Daniel Silva's strengths is his ability to entertain, while he scares the hell out of you about what could be happening geo-politically. He did this in Moscow Rules very skillfully. Though written in 2008, recent events in Syria and Iran, coupled with Vladimir Putin's clearly focused efforts at reactivating the Cold War, makes Moscow Rules very prescient. Silva has managed to cultivate some incredible sources to get so close to the truth. This book is definitely in the can't-put-it-down category!