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A taut, lightning-paced thriller rooted assuredly in fact: Switzerland's shameful WWII record of profiteering and collaboration with Nazi Germany.
The Unlikely Spy, Daniel Silva's extraordinary debut novel, was applauded by critics as it rocketed onto national bestseller lists. "Briskly suspenseful, tightly constructed . . . reminiscent of John le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," said The New York Times. "Silva has clearly done his homework, mixing fact and fiction to delicious effect and building tension—with the breathtaking double and triple turns of plot—like a seasoned pro," praised People.
Now Silva has outdone himself, with a taut, lightning-paced thriller rooted assuredly in fact: Switzerland's shameful WWII record of profiteering and collaboration with Nazi Germany.
When art restorer and occasional Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is sent to Zurich, Switzerland, to restore the painting of a reclusive millionaire banker, he arrives to find his would-be employer murdered at the foot of his Raphael. A secret collection of priceless, illicitly gained Impressionist masterpieces is missing. Gabriel's handlers step out of the shadows to admit the truth—the collector had been silenced—and Gabriel is put back in the high-stakes spy game, battling wits with the rogue assassin he helped to train.
Tense, taut, expertly crafted, and brimming with unexpected reversals, The English Assassin is Daniel Silva at his storytelling best.
Former President George Bush
Daniel Silva does his homework and puts his readers into the middle of very real life and death situations. But I have one major complaint about his writing: He's so darn good you can't wait for the next book to come out.
If you liked The English Assassin, try these:
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Published 2006
The little-known world of art theft is compellingly portrayed in Dolnick's account of the 1994 theft and recovery of Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream.
by John Le Carre
Published 2004
An epic tale of loyalty and betrayal set in the West Berlin of the 1960s through to the present day of terrorism and new alliances.
Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for ...
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