- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group (Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0399149724
- ISBN-13: 978-0399149726
- Product Dimensions: 21 x 14.6 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 76,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Silva . . . loads new excitement into the word thriller."
-- "Library Journal" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
-- "Library Journal" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
From the author who “ranks among the best of the younger American spy novelists” (The Washington Post) comes a stunning thriller of ancient and modern betrayal.
Munich: The writer Benjamin Stern entered his flat to see a man standing there, leafing through his research, and said, “Who the hell are you?” In answer, the man shot him. As Stern lay dying, the gunman murmured a few words in Latin, then gathered the writer’s papers and left.
Venice: The art restorer Gabriel Allon applied a dab of paint carefully to the Bellini, then saw the boy approaching, a piece of paper in his hand. It would be about Stern, he knew. They would want him to leave right away. With a sigh, the Mossad agent finished his work, then began to pack his brushes.
Vatican City: The pope known as Paul VII–“Pope Accidental,” to his detractors–paced in his garden, thinking about the things he knew and the
enemies he would make. He believed he understood why God had chosen him for this job, but the road in front of him was hard and exceedingly perilous. If he succeeded, he would revolutionize the Church. If not, he might very well destroy it–and himself.
In the weeks to come, the journeys of all these men will come together, following a trail of long-buried secrets and unthinkable deeds, leaving each one forever changed. Intrigue will dominate their lives and death stalk their paths, all of them in the shadow of the Confessor.
Filled with rich characters, remarkable prose, and an intricately woven plot suffused with surprise and intensity, this is an uncommonly powerful work by a new master of the art. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Munich: The writer Benjamin Stern entered his flat to see a man standing there, leafing through his research, and said, “Who the hell are you?” In answer, the man shot him. As Stern lay dying, the gunman murmured a few words in Latin, then gathered the writer’s papers and left.
Venice: The art restorer Gabriel Allon applied a dab of paint carefully to the Bellini, then saw the boy approaching, a piece of paper in his hand. It would be about Stern, he knew. They would want him to leave right away. With a sigh, the Mossad agent finished his work, then began to pack his brushes.
Vatican City: The pope known as Paul VII–“Pope Accidental,” to his detractors–paced in his garden, thinking about the things he knew and the
enemies he would make. He believed he understood why God had chosen him for this job, but the road in front of him was hard and exceedingly perilous. If he succeeded, he would revolutionize the Church. If not, he might very well destroy it–and himself.
In the weeks to come, the journeys of all these men will come together, following a trail of long-buried secrets and unthinkable deeds, leaving each one forever changed. Intrigue will dominate their lives and death stalk their paths, all of them in the shadow of the Confessor.
Filled with rich characters, remarkable prose, and an intricately woven plot suffused with surprise and intensity, this is an uncommonly powerful work by a new master of the art. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
THE APARTMENT HOUSE at Adalbertstrasse 68 was one of the few in the fashionable district of Schwabing yet to be overrun by Munich's noisy and growing professional elite. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE APARTMENT HOUSE at Adalbertstrasse 68 was one of the few in the fashionable district of Schwabing yet to be overrun by Munich's noisy and growing professional elite. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Daniel Silva brings back his enigmatic hero, Gabriel Allon, in "The Confessor," to investigate the mysterious murder of a dear friend, the unpopular aspirations of a newly elected Pope, a secret society in the Vatican, and long hidden secrets from World War II. Allon is a brilliant Israeli art restorer and a complex, melancholy man. He had worked for many years as an Israeli intelligence agent and assassin, (when necessary), losing his young son and wife to violence as a consequence of his work. Now he just wants to restore paintings and be left alone with his grief and his guilt.
Allon's boyhood friend and associate, Benjamin Stern, is murdered in his Munich apartment while writing a secret expose on the Church's involvement in the Holocaust. Ari Shamron, Gabriel's old mentor, former head of Israeli intelligence, and the father of Ben Stern, finds Allon in Venice, restoring a Bellini altarpiece. He has little difficulty persuading Allon to accept this assignment to find Stern's killer, even though it means leaving the Bellini, at least temporarily.
Although Allon runs into a stone wall with his investigation in Munich, he begins to discover clues to the secrets of his friend's manuscript. Stern had been writing about material taken from top secret Vatican archives. He also discovered evidence which points to a deadly secret Vatican society, the Crux Vera.
Pope Paul VII, known by his Vatican detractors as "Pope Accidental," has recently been elected to the Papal Throne. He has pledged to review the Church's alleged complicity in the Nazi extermination of the Jews, and make available the Secret Vatican Archives regarding the Holocaust - archives that certain Vatican officials would do anything to keep suppressed. Allon's life, and the Pope's, are in terrible jeopardy.
Whatever your opinion on these controversial issues, Daniel Silva has written his best novel with this mesmerizing tale of Vatican politics, intrigue, murder and World War II history. Mr. Silva's style is reminiscent, but not derivative, of Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth and John LeCarre. He is definitely in their league and oh, so original, with his 21st century relevant storyline. I have waited for a long time for an author of this caliber to appear and keep me on the edge of my seat, reading through the night. I was unable to put this book down.
JANA
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is outstanding. This book is Silva's sixth, and the third in the "Gabriel Allon" series, although it does not deal directly with the Middle East/Palistinian conflict directly, but rather takes an interesting twist and delves into not one, but two, very controversial relationships: between the Catholic Church and the Third Reich, and between the Vatican and the Jews, in particular, the handling of the holocast by the Vatican. Weaving the story in with the manipulation and intrigue for which the Vatican is famous, above all else, makes for a breathtakingly exciting plot, and the usual fasciniating cast of solid and well-developed characters for which Silva is renowned. For readers of The Kill Artist and The English Assassin, it is Gabriel Allon at his best, and the familiar cast of other characters previously introduced, like Ari Shamron, do not dissapoint, although this novel is just as good a read if it is your first Daniel Silva. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey through enchanting parts Venice and Rome, as well as the Italian lake district, amongst other exotic locations. The plot itself is solid and well-researched. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is one of very few books for which I have both awarded five stars, and have read more than once! My favourite Daniel Silva novel of them all.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is outstanding. Weaving the story in with the manipulation and intrigue for which the Vatican is famous, above all else, makes for a breathtakingly exciting plot, and the usual fasciniating cast of solid and well-developed characters for which Silva is renowned. For readers of The Kill Artist and The English Assassin, it is Gabriel Allon at his best, and the familiar cast of other characters previously introduced, like Ari Shamron, do not dissapoint, although this novel is just as good a read if it is your first Daniel Silva. The reader is taken on a fascinating journey through enchanting parts Venice and Rome, as well as the Italian lake district, amongst other exotic locations. The plot itself is solid and well-researched. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is one of very few books for which I have both awarded five stars, and have read more than once! My favourite Daniel Silva novel of them all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Gripping spy novel. Got me hooked on Silva.
I rarely write reviews but I loved this book. It was the first Daniel Silva novel I have read. I have since read two more and they have both been very good. Read more
Published 8 months ago by P. Griffiths
Another Great read
Having read all of Silva's books in the last 2 months I am now an avid fan. Great read - cannot wait for him to write more!
Published 11 months ago by Sunrise
Slowing down after a hectic start
It's a good job reviewers do not not assess books each in a similar way. I thought this book was far from bettering the previous two Allon stories. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by Michael Watson
A Real Page Turner.
Great Page Turner, Set in Rome, Terrific Atmosphere,
Most Enjoyable, Would Recommend.
Most Enjoyable, Would Recommend.
Published on 28 Jun 2009 by Wwk Lawlor
"Bring me the file on The Leopard."
(4.5 stars) The Leopard, an assassin who figures in a number of Silva novels, becomes a major player in this third Gabriel Allon novel, about the passive involvement of the Vatican... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2008 by Mary Whipple
A Knock-em Dead, Unbelievable Thriller
Gabriel Allon restores fine paintings by day but is a secret Israeli agent by night, or whenever, ready, willing and able to do battle with Arab terrorists. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2008 by Laurel Whitehead
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