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27th out of 160 books
—
86 voters
The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon #10)
by
Daniel Silva
"Of those writing spy novels today, Daniel Silva is quite simply the best."
-The Kansas City Star.
"The perfect book for fans of well-crafted thrillers ... the kind of page- turner that captures the reader from the opening chapter and doesn't let go."
-The Associated Press
Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and assassin, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New...more
-The Kansas City Star.
"The perfect book for fans of well-crafted thrillers ... the kind of page- turner that captures the reader from the opening chapter and doesn't let go."
-The Associated Press
Gabriel Allon, master art restorer and assassin, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New...more
Hardcover, 484 pages
Published
July 20th 2010
by Putnam Adult
(first published 2010)
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Love Daniel Silva. Great escape reading and this was one of his best.
Good Sunday morning! It's a brisk one today in the Boston area, and it would be a great day to cuddle up with a good book. Just sayin'...
This week's read was The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva (no relation), and it was GREAT. Main character, art-restorer, and butt-kicker Gabriel Allon, who's supposedly retired from the "Office", finds himself on a hunt for a missing Rembrandt, lost now for several decades. That quickly leads to his "un-retirement", as the search for the painting leads him down...more
This week's read was The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva (no relation), and it was GREAT. Main character, art-restorer, and butt-kicker Gabriel Allon, who's supposedly retired from the "Office", finds himself on a hunt for a missing Rembrandt, lost now for several decades. That quickly leads to his "un-retirement", as the search for the painting leads him down...more
Gabriel Allon and his wife Chiara have returned to England,renting a home for a year. Gabriel is retired from the "Office", but his good friend and gallery owner Julian Isherwood brings an opportunity to him: a "lost" Rembrandt. Isherwood has another art restorer working on the supposed Rembrandt, but he is suddenly attacked and killed in his studio, the painting disappeared. As only a few people knew of the painting, the mystery is who is behind the theft of the painting and the murder of the a...more
I picked this up to have an entertaining read, and that is what I got. The author did an excellent job of discussing the moral dilemmas created by the Nazi's plunder of art during WWII, as well as issues of memory and justice faced by Holocaust survivors. The discussion of art restoration proved fascinating.
There were, however, some implausibilities that ruined several parts of the novel. First off, the entire premise of the protagonist -- a former Israeli spy -- being permitted to retire peacef...more
There were, however, some implausibilities that ruined several parts of the novel. First off, the entire premise of the protagonist -- a former Israeli spy -- being permitted to retire peacef...more
I really, really enjoyed reading this book. Gabriel Allon's character gets better with each book in the series and of course it is always fun to read about his lovely wife Chiara (who "ate in the same manner in which she made love, slowly and by the flickering glow of candles" - best line ever! hilarious). But actually the thing I do love about Daniel Silva's books is that in addition to being entertaining, fast-paced spy-ish books (which I so love to read at the end of a long day) - they are re...more
This is the first time I have read a Daniel Silva novel and I was not disappointed. I'm only sorry I picked up on Gabriel Allon's eventful career so late into the novels. Gabriel Allon is a retired Israeli secret agent/assassin, living with his beautiful second wife Chiara, off the coast of Cornwall. But do secret agents ever retire? Not likely. And do art restorers ever manage to hang up their brushes? Also, not likely. For Gabriel is an art restorer as part of his cover. He also happens to be...more
Like most of Silva's works, this one belongs at the head of the class. Unlike some of his works, however, this one does not suffer from a thin plot. Rather, it has a decent set of layers to the story. And the cast of regulars continues to be a nice blend of competent and capable and flawed and damaged, starting with Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and occasional (and reluctant) Israeli spy and assassin. In this outing, Allon is on the trail of a story dating back to World War II, brought to his...more
2 likes · like · see review
The blurb made this book seem so exciting, I was eager to read it. I love books about great art and mysteries concerning them. I’d recently read Pictures At An Exhibition which covered fine art in Paris stolen by Nazis, and enjoyed it. The plot here begins with a Nazi-stolen painting, but is ultimately about Iran’s secret nuclear program. Turns out, the book is one of a series about heroic Israeli operatives and Western espionage. The reader is taken to Argentina, Switzerland, Israel, the USA, A...more
Gabriel Allon is busted up by this point in his long career. He's an art restorer by day, but an Israeli operative of the highest caliber when recalled to duty. At the start of this tale, he's trying to recover in the U.K. when another art restorer dies protecting a precious Rembrandt from a would-be thief.
Nothing is so simple, however. It's not just a Rembrandt. It's a piece of art stolen during World War II. And not just a painting, but also a rather expensive envelope for a series of Swiss ba...more
Nothing is so simple, however. It's not just a Rembrandt. It's a piece of art stolen during World War II. And not just a painting, but also a rather expensive envelope for a series of Swiss ba...more
I loved it! It has been six months since Gabriel Allon and his wife Chiara and their team were nearly killed by Ivan Kharkov and the couple have retreated to Cornwall to retire. But NO! Gabriel is again sought to investigate another art theft, a small portrait of Rembrandt's mistress. And so the tale goes from there. You KNOW he cannot simply find the painting, restore it, and settle back down on the cliffs of SE England! And you know he involves both the USA and England with the Isreali Office...more
Daniel Silva is an experienced best-selling author. He deserves his place on the NY Times list. His latest novel is a fascinating blend of lust, international espionage, art theft and sale, and murder. It is well-written, well-paced and almost insidiously compelling. It’s also long.
Silva has peopled his thriller with a remarkable cast of characters, including a towering Swiss philanthropist, a raffish cast of thieves and murderers who are on the side of the angels, a master logician who is also...more
Silva has peopled his thriller with a remarkable cast of characters, including a towering Swiss philanthropist, a raffish cast of thieves and murderers who are on the side of the angels, a master logician who is also...more
The good news is that Silva's plot and style are both smooth and entrancing. The bad news is that his handedness is very uneven, blatantly labeling Israelis as heroic and Americans, British and other Europeans as either complicit or bumbling. Unfortunate as well is his characterization of Iran as a pocket of evil that will probably have to be expunged to save the heroic and eternally persecuted Israelis.
It's ironic that the idea that "the enterprise of the State of Israel" as a sanctuary for and...more
It's ironic that the idea that "the enterprise of the State of Israel" as a sanctuary for and...more
The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva (pp. 484)
This may be one of Silva’s best yet. In the 11th installment of the Gabriel Allon series wraps art provenance with holocaust mystery and spins it into modern-day thriller involving multiple secret service organizations and a James Bond backdrop amongst the elite and privileged. As the makings of a great spy thriller go, he’s not lacking in the classic elements and again deftly weaves them in a fast moving, smart tale that leaves you satisfied and wis...more
This may be one of Silva’s best yet. In the 11th installment of the Gabriel Allon series wraps art provenance with holocaust mystery and spins it into modern-day thriller involving multiple secret service organizations and a James Bond backdrop amongst the elite and privileged. As the makings of a great spy thriller go, he’s not lacking in the classic elements and again deftly weaves them in a fast moving, smart tale that leaves you satisfied and wis...more
I am a full out Gabriel Allon fan, so considering I was very disappointed with the last book, it is a pleasure to assert that Daniel Silva has once again wrote a timely, engaging, intriguing excellent novel that the reader will surely enjoy. Although the novel packs a hefty punch at 484 pages, it is well worth the investment of time and money. I never once, felt the book moved slowly or rushed through the pages trying to finish. As a plot, the Rembrandt Affair is interesting, intriguing and poli...more
The best writer of international intrigue has done it again. "The Rembrandt Affair" is a masterful redirection of a character and story line following the wonderful tandem offering of "Moscow Rules" and "The Defector." Daniel Silva has spun a completely different web of a story by going back to Gabriel Allon, his central character's, essence -- artist and Holocaust avenger.
After the powerful "Moscow Rules" and "The Defector," I passed Silva the mantel of modern-day Robert Ludlum, I am now prepa...more
After the powerful "Moscow Rules" and "The Defector," I passed Silva the mantel of modern-day Robert Ludlum, I am now prepa...more
Word of mouth introduced me to the Master of all Thriller writers Daniel Silva. My older brother heard a local talkshow host recommend the author. I know, I was reading the books out of sequence, as I get my books from Auckland cities now vast library resource.
I was struck at how topical and imediate the subject matter of this book was and how it drew the reader into the story. What was disturbing most to me was the fact that although the characters are fictitious, most of the events are real or...more
I was struck at how topical and imediate the subject matter of this book was and how it drew the reader into the story. What was disturbing most to me was the fact that although the characters are fictitious, most of the events are real or...more
I've read every single Gabriel Allon book and The Rembrandt Affair (or as I call it "Gabriel Runs an Errand") is no exception. I read the entire book in the store and I'm now elated I didn't bother buying it. The plot moves along steadily enough and like most Allon books, this one WILL have you turning pages to the end. However, this book felt WAYh more formulaic than the previous ones and I feel that Silva has lost interest in these characters and just popping them out for profit.
Here is the fo...more
Here is the fo...more
I loved this book and read it in one sitting.Not having read any of Silva's work before this, I was thrilled to have found this one I will now go out and get the previous books featuring Gabriel Allon.
Having retired from active duty as a spy and assassin Gabriel is content to while away his time in his cottage in Cornwall restoring artworks and taking long walks. Until he is persuaded by a London art dealer to find a missing Rembrandt with an intriguing history. As Gabriel embarks on his missio...more
Having retired from active duty as a spy and assassin Gabriel is content to while away his time in his cottage in Cornwall restoring artworks and taking long walks. Until he is persuaded by a London art dealer to find a missing Rembrandt with an intriguing history. As Gabriel embarks on his missio...more
I have had a nice run of finding really good novels to read and post on this summer. The Rembrandt Affair is like holding 480 pages of energy in your hand. It was an awesome read for many reasons. Daniel Silva has crafted another fine piece of work, but as many of his fans have commented on already, you were waiting impatiently for this novel and expected nothing less to be delivered. I was surprised by the size of the novel but he used every page and every word to the reader’s advantage.
The Rem...more
The Rem...more
3 likes · like · see review
I am not a big fan of annual thriller authors, but Daniel Silva is an exception. He is a thriller writer with a heart, particularly in his tenth Gabriel Allon book. A stolen and heretofore unknown Rembrandt lures Allon out of retirement and leads him on a chase that continuously raises the stakes. While the suspense and spy craft are interesting, Silva brings in an extra dimension by incorporating a series of cover-ups related to the Holocaust. The story has its formulaic aspects when the old te...more
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Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The book starts off with a series of stolen paintings but then later focuses on the one unusual painting The portrait of a young women (mistress Hendrickje ) by Rembrandt when the restorer is shot dead. The missing painting leads to holocaust victims, travel to Argentina, finding the culprit by the Israeli agents. The american, english and the israeli spies working together to bring down a man who owns small companies in germany, making a round about sale of...more
Daniel Silva's The Rembrandt Affair is a wonderful fast-paced thriller that traces a stolen Rembrandt painting whose storied history involves much bloodshed. Beyond that, I love the fact that Silva used this book to address several social and political issues that have always intrigued me, and one of those are the mysteries behind the Nazi looting of the priceless treasures owned by the Jews, and the evolving relationship between Israeli intelligence and foreign intelligence services. I simply c...more
This is a thoughtful, engaging novel by an author I hadn't read before. I wish it wasn't the last one, though. I missed so much of Gabriel Allon's life, but even stepping into his world at the twilight of his career was rewarding.
I enjoyed the 'what if' aspect of the plot and could entirely believe the story behind Rembrandt's missing painting and his mistress. The cultural, historical and geographical elements were richly woven together to tell two tales - Allon's and the painting's. Both have...more
I enjoyed the 'what if' aspect of the plot and could entirely believe the story behind Rembrandt's missing painting and his mistress. The cultural, historical and geographical elements were richly woven together to tell two tales - Allon's and the painting's. Both have...more
In what appears to be potentially the final novel in the Gabriel Allon series, Daniel Silva exhibits everything that makes the Allon books worthwhile, as well as just about everything that makes them frustrating. The good: Excellent prose, a fast pace, action, suspense, and a detailed story. The bad: cookie-cutter elements to the plot, passages literally cut-and-pasted from previous books, and repetition in the main elements of the plot.
In fairness, I read all of the Gabriel Allon books back-to...more
In fairness, I read all of the Gabriel Allon books back-to...more
Jul 26, 2010
Claudia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Claudia by:
Todd
Shelves:
suspense-fiction
Oh how I love Gabriel. Even when he's tried to retire from the spy business after the trauma in Russia, his good friend Julian draws him back. Is there,indeed, a lost Rembrandt? Does she hold Nazi secrets? OF COURSE!!
I read a scathing review of the book on goodreads, and the reviewer listed plot points that are similar in all the books...and inadvertly he listed the quest pattern -- the hero is called, he resists the call, he accepts, he has companions....it's all there!
I liked this one because...more
I read a scathing review of the book on goodreads, and the reviewer listed plot points that are similar in all the books...and inadvertly he listed the quest pattern -- the hero is called, he resists the call, he accepts, he has companions....it's all there!
I liked this one because...more
Daniel Silva is one of my favorite authors because his books are extreme escapism. He knows how to construct a thriller that carries the reader along for the ride, and he creates characters who are fascinating. He doesn't reserve that fascination for the hero and antagonist; at the end of his books, I never want to say goodbye to even the minor players. "The Rembrandt Affair" is one of my favorites because of the diverse locales and the heroine who never speaks a word but says volumes through th...more
Daniel Silva goes deep down the Jewish angst to craft this tale of a covert operation codenamed 'Masterpiece'. (view spoiler)...more
Allon is back, and Silva is still one of the best there is. A believable plot which moves along both in the action parts, as well as the continued insights at the behind-the-scenes relationships between the "clandestine" services of many different nations. If Silva's depictions are accurate, the U.S. and England are second only to Israel in terms of feeling/being alone in the world where some things are concerned --- and I suspect the depictions are accurate. This novel also reminds us all of th...more
The Rembrandt affair is one of a series featuring Gabriel Allon, an art restorer who is also an agent for the government of Israel. I have read most of this series and enjoy both the literate writing style and the sense of place Silva brings to his writing. The Rembrandt Affair is, I believe, among the best of this series, all of which feature dirty tricks, intrigue, and undercover agents in an unending battle to punish the evil-doers and restore what’s rightfully theirs to the righteous. They a...more
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| Gabriel Allon | 6 | 47 | Apr 27, 2012 08:59pm |
Daniel Silva began his writing career as a journalist for United Press International (UPI), traveling in the Middle East and covering the Iran-Iraq war, terrorism and political conflicts. From UPI he moved to CNN, where he eventually became executive producer of its Washington-based public policy programming. In 1994 he began work on his first novel, The Unlikely Spy, a surprise best seller that w...more
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“The secrets of survivors are not easily surrendered. They are locked away behind barricaded doors and accessed at great risk to those who possess them.”
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Sep 03, 2012 02:32pm