Daniel Silva The Messenger

The Messenger

Daniel Silva

Putnam, Aug 2006, $25.95

ISBN: 0399153357

Art restorer and Israel espionage agent Gabriel Allon retires from the spy game after his battle with Khaled al-Khalifa that exposed his undercover activities. He plans to concentrate on his other skill in which he is recognized by his peers as one of the top three or four restorers in the world. However, his retirement is brief thanks to the death in London of Islamic moderate Professor Ali Massoudi, whom Allon met when he used the alias Alex Delvecchio in Venice years ago. Israeli special advisor on security and terrorism Ari Shamron tells Gabriel that Massoudi worked for al-Qaeda and they got his laptop filled with information on the Vatican; Allon reassumes his role as Israel's defender, the PRINCE OF FIRE, prepared to deal with his country's enemies, but first finishes the Reuben.

Not long afterward Monsignor Luigi Donati, private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII, comes to Jerusalem to obtain Allon's help involving the death of a Swiss guard in St. Peter's Basilica. The official inquiry claims suicide, but the Monsignor thinks a murder occurred. He trusts Allon to quietly investigate whether the Pope His Holiness may be in peril. Allon reluctantly agrees, but soon unravels a conspiracy that traverses Europe and the Middle east with an end state objective of a Vatican assassination.

The latest Allon thriller is an action-packed tale which also makes a strong case of follow the terrorist money trail that Daniel Silva insists leads back to Saudi Arabia. The story line is fast-paced as Allon struggles to prevent a calamity that could devastate the west and clearly harm Israel. Though with an obvious Israeli bias, readers of strong thrillers will appreciate Allon's latest caper as Israel's Angel of Death.

Harriet Klausner