Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon Book 11) Kindle Edition

Each July I look forward to a new Daniel Silva book, and I'm always amazed at his ability to write quality books year after year. Portrait of a Spy is an entertaining, engrossing and timely tale that is his 14th novel and the 11th book in his Gabriel Allon series.Former Mossad assassin and fine art restorer Gabriel Allon is now retired from Israeli Intelligence and living quietly in Cornwall with his wife, Chiara. Allon and Chiara travel to London so that Allon can evaluate a painting. While walking through Covent Garden, Allon spies a possible suicide bomber and tries to take him out. Before he can shoot, he's wrestled to the ground by several members of British Intelligence. The bomb detonates and kills a number of people--the 4th such attack in Europe in a short period of time. Allon finds himself sucked back into the International Intelligence community, trying to find a new terrorist network. Their leader, Rashid Al-Husseini, was handled by the CIA but has now gone rogue. The CIA wants him eliminated to avoid future embarrassment without getting their hands dirty. Allon needs to find someone who can infiltrate the network, although this proves to be risky for all involved.While the plot has similarities to some of Silva's other books in that art work is used to transfer money, the author makes the story fresh by incorporating current events into Portrait of a Spy. Saddam Hussein is dead and Europe is falling to pieces. "After decades of lavish social spending, much of the Continent was teetering on the brink of fiscal and monetary disaster...Greece was sinking slowly into the Aegean, Spain was on life support, and the Irish Miracle had turned out to be nothing more than a mirage. In the smart salons of Brussels, many Eurocrats were daring to say aloud what had once been unthinkable--that the dream of European integration was dying. And in their darker moments, a few of them actually wondered whether Europe as they knew it might be dying, too." Silva also knows his stuff when it comes to intelligence. "There is a truism about terror networks: putting the pieces in place is not as difficult as one might imagine. But once the mastermind pulls the trigger and carries out his first attack, the element of surprise is lost and the network exposes itself."In Portrait of a Spy, Allon's old team is back to assist him including Chiara, Uzi Navot, Dina Sarid, Eli Lavon, Yaakov Rossman, Mikhail Abramov, Rimona Stern, Julian Isherwood and Yossi Gavish. Even Ari Shamron, former head of "The Office" joins in on the job. Outside of the Israelis, Adrian Carter (the CIA), Graham Seymour (MI5), Sarah Brancroft (CIA) and Nadia al-Bakari (daughter of former terrorist financier, Zizi al-Bakari from The Secret Servant) play starring roles. Because of this extensive list of recurring characters, for as much as I enjoyed Portrait of a Spy, I would recommend that a new reader start at the beginning with The Kill Artist.

This latest Gabriel Allon novel is a lovely book.Firstly, it is not just the story (which may or may not be somewhat less than "fresh") but,...the telling of the story.The elegance of the storyteller counts much MUCH more than the actual plot, which may be a redux of what may have gone before in preceding books.This particular book is extremely well crafted and gently carries one through the plot without the insults to the reason, believability and intelligence of theof the target audience, a common fault that so many writers of "spy fiction" genre, feel compelled to do.This is a highly readable story, very well told; and THAT is the purporse of the story telling bussiness, is it not? Sans a campfire in the woods and marshmellows to toastthis effort is a clear delight.It bears only four stars because of details known to and probably cared for, only by persons who are comfortable with and interested in, weapons, more specifically firearms, and the trade and art of carrying and using them. An Ultimate Pro as is Adon Allon, would most probably carry, or request that he be furnished for persosnal carry ***as a rule,***a Glock Model 17 or Model 19, in 9X18 mm calibre, instead of the large, bulky Beretta. Ammunition for it is universally available. He would likely utilize a John Ralston 5 Shot or earlier manufactured Uncle Lou Alessi IWB (Inside the wasitband) holster, and matching dual mag angled carriers. Also carried by our erstwhile professional would be a mini Surefire flashlight.Or possibly a matching rig from Milt Sparks, or even a Mitch DelFatti (**IF** he got on the waiting list early enough). An Emerson Mini A-100 or Al Mar locking folder would be on his belt or in his trouser pocket. Allon IS a professional, is he not?A bit of study or consultation with such a person; a Man at Arms, would gain an inexpensively acquired, fast fifth star.I wait for next years product and with the belief that Mr.Silva will continue to generate a very fine product.Kol HaKovod to him.

I absolutely love Silva. He never disappoints me and I just love it when he turns a corner I wasn't expecting.

I will admit to an awful lot of bias when it comes to Daniel Silva's books: having been tipped by a bibliophile friend in North Carolina, my wife and I have grown to love his oeuvre, particularly the Gabriel Allon series.For the uninitiated, Allon is a noted art restorer who also works for Israeli intelligence as a spy and sometime assassin. The plot on this one finds Allon relatively late in life, but hardly in the pipe/slippers bracket.Rather against his better judgement, an Islamic suicide bomber leads Allon back into the dangerous world he's trying to detach himself from, and an international hunt for a terror organisation ensues. For me, this was like meeting people I like; although it's not really in a set series, many of the same characters appear, with references to past events I'm familiar with. It's a taught tale that kept me involved from page one, with references to fairly recent world events to make it seem fresh. The book's not one of the most remarkable Kindle bargains, but for under a fiver, it's a good place to start exploring this fine author's skills. It's on both our Kindles, so my advice to my wife on finishing 'Portrait' was to go for it soon. The extensive use of IT in the book, allied to old fashioned analytical skills made this book very plausible and engrossing for me, particularly with its tongue-in-cheek view of the art world. Highly recommended reading, indeed.

it is rare that I do not finish a book even if it is disappointing. Occasionally the narrative is so dreary I have to give up and 25% through this book I did. Stereotyped characters set in a stereotyped anti terrorism story with wooden prose. As usual a special team of extraordinary people as part of a secret unit battle to save us all. They may save the world from terrorism but not boredom.

These are great stories and characters, well written and hugely enjoyable. Start from the beginning and work your way through them, you will not be disappointed.

An excellent read. Well informed and excellent characterisation. Blends the worlds of art and espionage with great skill and subtlety

This just didn't do it for me as it was all build up with no excitement to speak of. Couldn't fault the actual technical aspects of the writing, and the author is clearly highly knowledgeable as regards muslim customs etc. but this doesn't compensate for its weaknesses.