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61st out of 149 books
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The English Assassin (Gabriel Allon #2)
by
Daniel Silva
A master writer of espionage" (Cincinnati Enquirer), Daniel Silva makes his Signet debut with his most acclaimed novel to date...
Framed for the murder of a millionaire banker, Israeli spy by trade and art restorer by preference, Gabriel Allon, will have to fight for his life-against an assassin he himself helped train.
Framed for the murder of a millionaire banker, Israeli spy by trade and art restorer by preference, Gabriel Allon, will have to fight for his life-against an assassin he himself helped train.
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
February 25th 2003
by Signet
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Daniel Silva- The English Assassin (Signet Books 2003) 3.25 Stars
Former Israeli spy, now turned art restorer, Gabriel Allon is being tossed back into a past he left behind. In Zurich, Switzerland he is called to restore a painting for a rich banker only to discover the banker dead. Framed for the murder he must dig through old Nazi history and Switzerland’s past connections to the old regime. Going against him is the English Assassin, someone he trained.
The introduction w...more
Former Israeli spy, now turned art restorer, Gabriel Allon is being tossed back into a past he left behind. In Zurich, Switzerland he is called to restore a painting for a rich banker only to discover the banker dead. Framed for the murder he must dig through old Nazi history and Switzerland’s past connections to the old regime. Going against him is the English Assassin, someone he trained.
The introduction w...more
ENLIGHTENING PAGE TURNER
What I liked most about "The English Assasin" in terms of entertainment was its unrelentless action, chapter after chapter and of course its underlying message.
This very riveting fast paced novel begins when Israeli Mossad agent and art restorer by profession, Gabriel Allon, is assigned to go to Switzerland, to restore a painting of a very rich Swiss art billonaire and found that this man has been murdered at his residence
The dead man ho...more
What I liked most about "The English Assasin" in terms of entertainment was its unrelentless action, chapter after chapter and of course its underlying message.
This very riveting fast paced novel begins when Israeli Mossad agent and art restorer by profession, Gabriel Allon, is assigned to go to Switzerland, to restore a painting of a very rich Swiss art billonaire and found that this man has been murdered at his residence
The dead man ho...more
In this second installment of the Gabriel Allon series we find our sensitive and scarred spy taking on the Swiss bankers who helped the Nazis during WWII and are still hiding old Jewish money and treasure under the boardwalks of Zurich.
As in the first novel, "The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon)", the reluctant Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is joined by a world famous woman, this time though she is a violinist named Anna Rolfe, on his adventures. As in his previous novels, Mr. Silv...more
As in the first novel, "The Kill Artist (Gabriel Allon)", the reluctant Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is joined by a world famous woman, this time though she is a violinist named Anna Rolfe, on his adventures. As in his previous novels, Mr. Silv...more
The English Assassin, by Daniel Silva, b-plus, narrated by John Lee, produced byBooks on Tape, downloaded from audible.com.
This is the second book in the Gabriel Allum series. Allum is an Israeli who is a gifted painting restorer which he often uses as a cover to perform services for Israel. He was called to Switzerland to restore a painting, but found the owner dead. The owner’s daughter was a gifted violinist, and she told Gabriel that her father had a hidden room full of impres...more
This is the second book in the Gabriel Allum series. Allum is an Israeli who is a gifted painting restorer which he often uses as a cover to perform services for Israel. He was called to Switzerland to restore a painting, but found the owner dead. The owner’s daughter was a gifted violinist, and she told Gabriel that her father had a hidden room full of impres...more
This is the first Daniel Silva book I have read and I wasn't disappointed! The stories first chapter grabs you immediatley and it's tough to put this book down. Gabriel Allon is the art restorer/ Isarali secret agent who is called upon to restore a Raphael in the Rolfe home in Sweden. When he arrives, he finds the owner of the home dead and he is later arrested for the murder.
I haven't read the other books about Gabriel Allon but I didn't feel as if I missed out on much. I was able to get ...more
I haven't read the other books about Gabriel Allon but I didn't feel as if I missed out on much. I was able to get ...more
To me there have always been two classes of thrillers :
1. Too much carnage and mayhem : Where the key figures in the plot line go, bodies drop like flies swatted out of the air and things tend to get destroyed. The factor of disinterest that I have in such a genre is that the mind goes numb to all this damage.
2. The silent,subtle kind of a thriller : Not much of a noise & the plot drives the adrenaline rush through the reader's veins. Needless to say it requires the ste...more
1. Too much carnage and mayhem : Where the key figures in the plot line go, bodies drop like flies swatted out of the air and things tend to get destroyed. The factor of disinterest that I have in such a genre is that the mind goes numb to all this damage.
2. The silent,subtle kind of a thriller : Not much of a noise & the plot drives the adrenaline rush through the reader's veins. Needless to say it requires the ste...more
The English Assassin is another fine novel. Daniel Silva provides the reader with his usual blend of action, excitement, intrigue, and plot twists -- all set within the historical context of the secret world of the Swiss banking system from WWII to the present.
In a reprise of Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and sometimes Israeli spy from the Kill Artist, Silva spins a tale of a secret Swiss society, long-ago collaboration with Nazi Germany, and a quest to recover art treasures plund...more
In a reprise of Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and sometimes Israeli spy from the Kill Artist, Silva spins a tale of a secret Swiss society, long-ago collaboration with Nazi Germany, and a quest to recover art treasures plund...more
The English Assassin follows Gabriel Allon, art restorer and Israeli spy (retired, sort of) as he tries to figure out why an old Swiss banker who hired him to restore a painting ended up dead just before Gabriel arrives for the meeting. Without giving away too much Gabriel’s hunt for the truth leads him to discover that what some Swiss did during WWII was about to come to light and the banker was killed to keep it all quiet. With the help of the banker’s daughter, a world-famous violinist and s...more
Ok - I am just going to read all 10 of Silva's books. They are all page turners with short chapters. Once you start, you can't stop. I still think that Moscow Rules and The Messenger are my favorites, but I will have to go through all ten to make sure. His later books delve into the complicated personality of Gabriel Allon a little more, and he is one of the reasons I love these books so much. I kepp wondering who could play an Israeli Art restorer on the big screen. The location of this book w...more
Had listened to a Daniel Silva book several years back but this was the first one I'd read. I very much enjoyed it....His main character, Gabriel Allon, is an art restorer/Israeli spy. This book centered around paintings stolen by the Nazis during WWII and the role of the Swiss during the war. It is well written - plot moves rapidly and also the background on the Swiss was most interesting. Having spent time in Switzerland this past spring, more insight into the mindset of that country is apprec...more
I like the Allon character; this book is earlier in the series than any others I've read.
Very interesting and thought-provoking story line. I found myself skipping over one of the 'interrogation' scenes toward the end of the book, but other than that the violence didn't seem to be overdone.
The reader of this audiobook did Gabriel Allon with a middle-Eastern accent throughout. Well, good that he could keep it up and separate from the German, Swiss, Italian, English and C...more
Very interesting and thought-provoking story line. I found myself skipping over one of the 'interrogation' scenes toward the end of the book, but other than that the violence didn't seem to be overdone.
The reader of this audiobook did Gabriel Allon with a middle-Eastern accent throughout. Well, good that he could keep it up and separate from the German, Swiss, Italian, English and C...more
I've read this book before and wanted to revisit the series as I quit reading at some point despite having enjoyed it. I normally don't care for spy stories, or political stories, or stories about any of the wars. So I can't really say why this series is different, and I've enjoyed it so much. Perhaps it's because all of the characters are extremely human and damaged in some way. Each character has a back story that makes them neither all good or all bad but some mix of both as most of us are...more
This second book in the Gabriel Allon series was a definite improvement on the first. I still don't see the comparison with John LeCarre though. Having read most of LeCarre's works I think there is still a definite gap between the two. LeCarre redefined the genre. Silva, while writing intriguing novels that keep the reader engaged, has not yet convinced me that he is able to craft the kind of psychological spy novel that we find in LeCarre's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, for example. Noneth...more
3.5 stars for this one. Another entertaining thriller than managed to hold my interest pretty much all the way through.
I was a bit fooled by the title. The English assassin didnt play as large a role as I had been led to believe. And if you think that this is going to be a gripping thriller about two assassins - a master and apprentice - facing each other through ordeal after ordeal - think again. Their stories barely even cross, and the confrontation I was expecting did not materializ...more
I was a bit fooled by the title. The English assassin didnt play as large a role as I had been led to believe. And if you think that this is going to be a gripping thriller about two assassins - a master and apprentice - facing each other through ordeal after ordeal - think again. Their stories barely even cross, and the confrontation I was expecting did not materializ...more
There are two sides to this book. On one hand it has one of the most interesting story arcs that I have had pleasure to encounter in a thriller since DeMille's "Lion's Game". On the other hand I can't shake off the feeling that this book would have been even better if the author was able to breath a little "life" into his main characters. Unfortunately, all the main protagonists felt stilted and a bit thin, which spoiled an otherwise excellent thriller. Nevertheless, an eloge...more
4.5 stars. Why does GoodReads not allow 1/2 stars? So frustrating. Anyway, I loved this book and thought it was a solid improvement over Silva's initial Gabriel Allon novel. Less of a love story (though it's still crammed in there) and more of a great spy novel. Silva uses the history of the Nazi plunging of Europe's art in a fascinating way as a backdrop for this tale. Fast-paced and fun, it is a great read. Took away a star (half-star) for the forced ending, but don't dwell on that if you're c...more
Not the best by Silva.
This was my second Daniel Silva novel about the Israeli spy/art restorer Gabriel Allon. I enjoyed the book, but certainly don't think it was amazing. I find the characters Silva creates to be interesting, and the historical background of the Swiss involvement in the looting of both art and money of Jews during World War II. The plot itself seemed to be more like the background than the history, so it didn't necessarily make for the page-turner you would expect in a spy novel like this. I wil...more
Some of my friends mentioned Daniel Silva, so I thought I'd give him a shot with The English Assassin. The title had a certain ring to it.
I would say my thoughts on this are mixed. As far as the plot goes, very compelling, but to me, there was a lot going on and so the story seemed to jump around. I am okay with jumping around from place to place, but timeline wise, I got lost and there were several chapters that went by before one chapter that introduced something was resolved, hen...more
I would say my thoughts on this are mixed. As far as the plot goes, very compelling, but to me, there was a lot going on and so the story seemed to jump around. I am okay with jumping around from place to place, but timeline wise, I got lost and there were several chapters that went by before one chapter that introduced something was resolved, hen...more
In this second installment of the Gabriel Allon series we find our sensitive and scarred spy taking on the Swiss bankers who helped the Nazis during WWII and are still hiding old Jewish money and treasure under the boardwalks of Zurich.
Allon's involvement begins when he accepts a commission to restore a priceless Raphael original. He travels to Zurich, only to find that his client -- wealthy Swiss banking magnate Augustus Rolfe -- has been shot to death just hours before. On the hee...more
Allon's involvement begins when he accepts a commission to restore a priceless Raphael original. He travels to Zurich, only to find that his client -- wealthy Swiss banking magnate Augustus Rolfe -- has been shot to death just hours before. On the hee...more
This is the second of the Gabriel Allon novels. I'd wondered, after reading The Kill Artist, when Silva really found his stride with the series. I got my answer after reading this book.
Gabriel gets caught up in a conspiracy of silence and greed dating back to World War II. It's much lower-key than the first book, with stakes that are certainly important to the characters (and the dangers to them are very real), but not on a global level, which I think helped to keep the story more...more
Gabriel gets caught up in a conspiracy of silence and greed dating back to World War II. It's much lower-key than the first book, with stakes that are certainly important to the characters (and the dangers to them are very real), but not on a global level, which I think helped to keep the story more...more
The basic context of this battle between a Jewish assassin and an English assassin (who is adopted by the Corsicans and hired by the Swiss)is the neutrality of Switzerland during World War II. It is well known that the Nazis stripped the Jews and other Europeans of irreplaceable art and jewels and gold, but did Swiss bankers end up with those masterpieces? The accusation has been leveled that Switzerland's national bank, private Swiss bankers, and private manufacturers of war material exploited...more
This is an intriguing thriller/spy novel. It is about an assassin and therefore has some 'adult' content. This is the first book of a series that focuses on Gabriel Allon, an ex/(not-so-ex) Israeli spy/hitman. The interestng part of this character is that he is based on a real person. Supposedly, in Allon's past he was part of an elite and very 'unofficial' group (called Black September) sent by the Israeli government to retaliate for the 1972 killings of several Israeli athletes at the Muni...more
This is a great series if you are in the mood for low-effort thrillers (or, would be good stocking stuffers for the men in your life who like low-effort thrillers). The main character is Gabriel Allon, handsome and inscrutable art restorer by day, SECRET ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ASSASSIN all of the other times. Yes, it is as fantastic as it sounds! This one, the second, is way better than the first and I'm enjoying the third right now. Perfect for the end of the day when you are feeling a little brain...more
Gabriel Allon, an Israeli assassin and art restorer is called to the home of Augustus Rolfe in Zurich to restore a painting only to find Herr Rolfe dead of a gun shot to the head. This is the story of hidden art, the banking system in Switzerland and the role of Switzerland in WW II. As Silva always does, he weaves historical perspective into his thrillers. Here he lets you into the Swiss role in hiding Nazi wealth and art obtained from wealthy European Jews.
Helpful to read the 1st in t...more
Helpful to read the 1st in t...more
Not bad for a book read on the recommendation of a stranger at a local library book sale. Nice modern espionage tale featuring art restorer/spy Gabriel Allon. Not groundbreaking in any sense - the usual elements are all there (multiple foreign locations, individuals trained in the art of the kill, the ability to withstand brutal beatings) and motivations aren't always fully established. Still, the story moves at a nice pace and is a pleasant enough read. I'll certainly give another of his bo...more
This is a well researched book about the Nazi art theft during the war. The Gabriel Allon is a spy art restorer. He is sent to Zurich to restore a painting and finds the owner dead. He is accused of murder and is on the run to prove his innocence and find the art work which was stolen. He is pursued by the English Assassin who he trained.
A very educational, fast paced book. Switzerland has been considered the main trade area of the art, during the war. Many of these art works still rema...more
A very educational, fast paced book. Switzerland has been considered the main trade area of the art, during the war. Many of these art works still rema...more
I am a big fan of the Daniel Silva books and decided to start with some of his earlier books and work my way forward. This one is the second of what now totals 12 books starring the spy Gabriel Allon. This is the second of this series I have read and there seems to be a similar thread in both, a spy thriller joined with a story involving a famous painting or two. You see, Gariel is both a trained spy and a classical art restorer. This one was pretty good, but seemed to not flow as well as th...more
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Yet another Silva book for me...and still with the main character Gabriel Allon, art restorer/assassin. This one is always "on the edge of your seat" and involves the complicity of Switzerland against the Jews during WWII...as in reality, Silva doesn't always let his main character (Gabriel Allon) win...sometimes the bad guys do, at least in this one. As always you're left wondering right up to the last page, which screams sequel, sequel...
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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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