(Book 11 in the Gabriel Allon series)
A novel by Daniel Silva
A former journalist and television producer, Silva has crafted a novel so real, so timely that this reader soon began to feel a bit like she was reading a stunning newspaper account rather than fiction. Silva builds tension with architectural skill while the action jettisons from upscale auction houses to Washington power to the Saudi desert. PORTRAIT OF A SPY is extraordinary in every sense of the word.
- Gail Cooke
DESCRIPTION
In a dangerous world, one extraordinary woman can mean the difference between life and death. . . .
For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London—a visit to a gallery in St. James’s to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds.
Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted “a beautiful and seductive tongue.” A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks.
Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past.
Set against the disparate worlds of art and intelligence, Portrait of a Spy moves swiftly from the corridors of power in Washington to the glamorous auction houses of New York and London to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert. Featuring a climax that will leave readers haunted long after they turn the final page, this deeply entertaining story is also a breathtaking portrait of courage in the face of unspeakable evil—and Daniel Silva’s most extraordinary novel to date.
Gabriel Allon has been hailed as the most compelling creation since “Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond” (Rocky Mountain News). A man with a deep appreciation for all that is beautiful, Gabriel is also an angel of vengeance, an international operative who will stop at nothing to see justice done. Sometimes he must journey far in search of evil. And sometimes evil comes to him.
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Hardcover: 464 pages
Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (July 19, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062072188
ISBN-13: 978-0062072184
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
REVIEW
We've read that Gabriel Allon has been hailed as the most compelling creation since "Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond." So true - a premier art restorer and an international operative bent on seeing justice done Allon is a fascinating character, a blend of intellectual acuity and fearlessness.
Gabriel, using the name Giovanni Rossi, is the talk of the Cornish village of Gunwalloe. He and his wife, Chiara, occupy a cottage with a twelve-month lease paid in advance "with all the paperwork handled discreetly by an obscure lawyer in Hamburg." Whoever he is, whatever he does all the villagers agree he has made Gunwalloe a much more interesting place. If they only knew.
When Gabriel takes his wife for what is intended to be a leisurely brief holiday in London he is walking toward Covent Garden when he sees a man he believes is a suicide bomber. There have been two previous bombings in Paris and Copenhagen, therefor he is on alert. But just as he aims his weapon he's knocked down so that all he could see "...was body parts and blood. It was Baghdad on the Thames."
Sick at heart that he was unable to stop the carnage Gabriel returns to Cornwall only to be called back into service by the chief of Israel's secret intelligence. There's no doubt that the Covent Garden bombing was the third in a series and, in all probability orchestrated by Rashid al-Husseini, a cleric in Yemen who was born in America and was so convincing re his loyalty to the States that he once worked for the CIA. Rashid learned a great deal during that period and used that knowledge against America, soon preaching "..that the only way to deal with the West is to destroy it."
It is Gabriel's task to stop Rashid before there are any more deaths, and accomplish this while keeping his operation secret from everyone including the President.
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