- Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: SOS Free Stock (28 Feb 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451208188
- ISBN-13: 978-0451208187
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 10.9 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 809,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"Abundant action."--The Washington Post
"A cloak-and-dagger tale [that] moves at a brisk clip, with clean, lucid exposition and characters who are thoughtfully drawn."--The New York Times
"The plot is rich, multilayered and compelling with issues as timely as the daily headlines and problems as old as humankind...Silva maintains tension and suspense."--The Denver Post
"Enthralling...a thriller that entertains as well as enlightens."--The Orlando Sentinel
"Smooth and compelling."--Detroit Free Press
"Silva's sophisticated treatment, polished prose, an edgy mood, and convincing research give his plot a crisp, almost urgent quality."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Silva knows how to plot...[he] will draw you in--and you'll learn something at the same time."--Rocky Mountain News
"Thrilling...a good, cinematic story."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"In the style of authors like Frederick Forsyth and Ken Follett, this is a book that opens with a scene that grabs your attention and never lets go...highly imaginative fiction set against a nonfiction background...you will want to read this one straight through once you've started."--New York Law Journal
"Cleverly crafted...engrossing...an intelligent thriller of the old school and one that will satisfy Silva's fans and earn him many new ones."--Chattanooga Times/Chattanooga News-Free Press
"Silva, who writes with the atmospheric grace and whiplash tension of le Carre, brings something special to the spy thriller: a multifaceted, believable hero whose sideline, spying, is only as intriguing as his regular job, restoring Old Masters....[Allon's] investigation leads to the English assassin, a rogue terrorist whose casual killings (his send-off gift to his lovers is explosives in their luggage) are breathtakingly orchestrated. Silva makes a stunning contribution to the spy thriller."--Booklist (starred review)
"The spy novel is ali --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
"A cloak-and-dagger tale [that] moves at a brisk clip, with clean, lucid exposition and characters who are thoughtfully drawn."--The New York Times
"The plot is rich, multilayered and compelling with issues as timely as the daily headlines and problems as old as humankind...Silva maintains tension and suspense."--The Denver Post
"Enthralling...a thriller that entertains as well as enlightens."--The Orlando Sentinel
"Smooth and compelling."--Detroit Free Press
"Silva's sophisticated treatment, polished prose, an edgy mood, and convincing research give his plot a crisp, almost urgent quality."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Silva knows how to plot...[he] will draw you in--and you'll learn something at the same time."--Rocky Mountain News
"Thrilling...a good, cinematic story."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"In the style of authors like Frederick Forsyth and Ken Follett, this is a book that opens with a scene that grabs your attention and never lets go...highly imaginative fiction set against a nonfiction background...you will want to read this one straight through once you've started."--New York Law Journal
"Cleverly crafted...engrossing...an intelligent thriller of the old school and one that will satisfy Silva's fans and earn him many new ones."--Chattanooga Times/Chattanooga News-Free Press
"Silva, who writes with the atmospheric grace and whiplash tension of le Carre, brings something special to the spy thriller: a multifaceted, believable hero whose sideline, spying, is only as intriguing as his regular job, restoring Old Masters....[Allon's] investigation leads to the English assassin, a rogue terrorist whose casual killings (his send-off gift to his lovers is explosives in their luggage) are breathtakingly orchestrated. Silva makes a stunning contribution to the spy thriller."--Booklist (starred review)
"The spy novel is ali --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon is asked to visit Zurich, to clean the work of an Old Master for a millionaire banker. But when he gets there he finds the corpse of his client in a pool of blood beneath the masterpiece, and discovers that a secret collection of priceless paintings stolen by Nazis in the war is missing. With the Swiss authorities trying to pin the murder on Allon and a powerful cabal determined to make sure this wartime secret remains buried, the art restorer must use all his former spy skills to find out the truth. And with an assassin that he helped to train also on the loose, Allon will need all his wits just to stay alive.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I agree with the previous review - this is a great page turner until 3/4's of the way through, where unfortunately it tails off - two incidents in particular seemed forced, and made me scream 'why!!'
The book works better as a thriller rather than as a 'searing indictment of Switzerland's collaboration with the Nazi's', which was laid on far too thickly for me.
The comparisons with John Le Carre are unfair, who would have approached the same story completely differently. However, it did keep me interested, if a little disappointed in the end.
The book works better as a thriller rather than as a 'searing indictment of Switzerland's collaboration with the Nazi's', which was laid on far too thickly for me.
The comparisons with John Le Carre are unfair, who would have approached the same story completely differently. However, it did keep me interested, if a little disappointed in the end.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I became hooked on Daniel Silva's work after someone loaned me "The Unlikely Spy" (which I have read three times!). "The English Assassin" was my first introduction to Gabriel and I was hooked from beginning to end. Although the ending threw me a little - why did the assassin act the way he did? Silva doesn't quite explain it and we are left wondering. Nevertheless, a great book and highly recommended! I guarantee you won't look at Switzerland the same way again!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The "English Assassin" was my introduction to author Daniel Silva, and to his protagonist, Gabriel Allon expert art restorer and occasional Israeli spy. This intelligently written, international espionage thriller, filled with intrigue and vengeance, is as good is it gets. 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.
Gabriel Allon is a brilliant Israeli art restorer, residing in Cornwall, England. He is a complex, melancholy man - not much humor here. Allon 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 torment and his guilt.
Allon is coerced back to active spy duty when he is asked to go to Zurich to clean the work of an Old Master for a Swiss millionaire banker. He arrives at his clients house only to find the man dead at his feet - murdered, obviously. Allon has too much of a history in Switzerland to call the police, so he attempts to flee the country. He is caught within a half hour, (pretty fast, even for the Swiss), and framed for the murder. Thus begins a chain of events that pairs Allon with the dead banker's beautiful, violin virtuoso daughter, as they seek the killer and the motive. Their search takes them all over Europe, where they begin to uncover secrets dealing with Nazi art theft, international conspiracy, priceless hidden treasures buried in Swiss vaults, a decade-old suicide, multiple murders, and a very mysterious English assassin. This assassin fellow is one of my favorite villains - and his Corsican friends are just too much!
Mr. Silva's characters are believable and fascinating. His plots and subplots are beautifully developed and gripping; his historical detail is on the money. What more could you ask for in a novel? I cannot wait to get my hands on more of his books. Hopefully when I catch-up and read what I have missed, Mr. Silva will have written another winner.
JANA
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Legacy of the Holocaust
I've read a couple of Silva's later Gabriel Allon books but have to admit I prefer this one. Where the later ones get very anti-Islam (in general) and pro-America in black and... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Roman Clodia
An unputtable-down spy thriller
With this volume in his Gabriel Allon spy series, writer Daniel Silva once again amazes with his skill in both enthralling the reader, and the amount of background research he puts... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Allan Watford
Great Thriiler fiction from siva once again
Silvea has written a great new thriller starring gabriel Allon . It explores the otrageous pat Swtizerland had in hiding Nazi loot eg paintings stolen from Europes Jews . Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ms. Diane P. Walsh
a good follow on
Having moved from 'The Kill Artist' to this novel, the similarities in the formula are very apparent. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2010 by Michael Watson
Move over 007
This series pulls no punches - either in the action described or the politics commented upon.
Daniel Silva challenges his readers to review their own personal prejudices and... Read more
Daniel Silva challenges his readers to review their own personal prejudices and... Read more
Published on 22 July 2009 by Robert M. Hughes
An exciting insight into the world of Gabriel allon
This was the first book of the crime/espionage genre that I have read I have to be honest that I was completely gripped by the story line. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2008 by Curly.Lockz
"Beware the Gnomes of Zurich...All Switzerland is a bank."
Revolving around the role of Swiss bankers and financiers (the Gnomes) in financing the German war effort during World War II, Daniel Silva's fifth novel, and the second to feature... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2008 by Mary Whipple
Good story, well researched.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Being an avid reader of Le Carre, Deighton, Porter et al I've been looking for another series to work through, and the Gabriel Allon sequence looks... Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2007 by Garfield Southall
Not quite a day of the jackal
there's a lot to like in this one which gets off to a good start and is nicely paced but the storyline falters towards the end and the plot grinds to a halt. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2006
Silva doesn't dissapoint!
In this novel, the second in the "Gabriel Allon" series, Daniel Silva takes us into the murky world of money and power behind that spectacular scenic facade that is Switzerland to... Read more
Published on 28 July 2005 by Rory Morty
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