Renting an idyllic cottage with his wife near the Lizard in Cornwall, Gabriel Allon is a world-renowned art expert and the one that owners and collectors of such turn to when they want one of their paintings restored or cleaned. He's also something else; an Israeli trained assassin.

Both Paris and Copenhagen have suffered at the hands of a suicide bomber in the previous hour and Allon is stopped by SO19 from shooting a terrorist milliseconds before he blows up Covent Garden that same day because the apologists within would have whinged about `an execution'. As a result, he finds himself in Washington with a team of Israeli counter terrorism agents trying to uncover who was responsible for the three atrocities. With the information gathered they realise that however many volunteers and weapons those they are seeking may have, there is one thing Allon and his cohorts realise they are lacking, so they decide upon an unusual plan; they become terrorists themselves.

This is author Daniel Silva's eleventh outing for master spy Gabriel Allon (and he seems to be productive, producing a book each year - I guess it's a 365-day a year job for a spy), though thankfully, you won't need to have read any of the other ten to know what's going on. What you will have to do is make mental notes of who's who, as there is an abundance of characters involved, some of which are 'bit part' players. That you know what their plan is doesn't matter, as the narrative revolves around how they're going to attempt to accomplish this.

Flitting between Europe, USA and Middle East, Silva manages to produce a novel rich in description (maybe sometimes too much) and less dialogue than you may think it may contain. It's all in the imagination, and it's brought off surprisingly well here. Some may look upon Allon as a `new' James Bond but he's more like Ethan Hunt, certainly in this story. Moreover, he isn't the most important character here. That accolade belongs to Nadia, a billionaire. What's her role in the narrative? You'll have to read it to find out. Unfortunately, it fizzles out a bit after the finale but it doesn't detract from the main event. And why thrillers like this always seem to end the way they do is always a mystery to me. It's time the protagonist got their comeuppance for a change.

Still, it's worth taking a look.