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Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11)

4.19 of 5 stars 4.19 · rating details · 6,509 ratings · 590 reviews

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

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"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. A woman waits there--a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood. . . .

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.

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Hardcover, 448 pages

Published July 19th 2011 by Harper (first published 2011)

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Aug 24, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-thriller, read-in-2011, library-book

Another reliable entry in the multi book story of Gabriel Allon, spy and assassin, originally recruited by the Israeli agency known as "the Office" to help with retaliation after the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. He was recruited out of art school and this is a field to which he returns after each assignment, having developed skills as an art restorer over many years.

As this new episode begins, Gabriel has left that spy's life behind and once again retired to Cornwall to paint...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, suspense-thriller, four-star-fiction, cultural-and-social-commentary

Yesssssss! Another Gabriel Allon book.
I wonder how Silva will top himself this time. The last two were the best in the series. Untoppable?

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Aug 13, 2011 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-releases, military-thriller

*Rating* 4
*Genre* Thriller

*Review*

Gabriel Allon is known around the world as the angel of vengeance, and an international operative who has worked for the Israeli Intelligence machine called the Office, since 1972. He is a man who will stop at nothing to see justice done even if it puts his own life at risk.

After the events that occurred during The Rembrandt Affair, Allon has finally decided to retire from the Office. He is living the quiet life in Cornwall, England as an art restorer along wit...more

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Jan 22, 2013 KarenC rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to KarenC by: series

Shelves: politics, spies, suspense, better_than_tv

Another installment in one of my very favorite ongoing series. An art restorer who poses as a reluctant spy is probably the closest description for the character of Gabriel Allon. Allon's first love is, of course, his current wife Chiara, but his second is art and he even seems to confuse the two on occasion. But no matter what the art restoration job is, those of us who have read several of the books in this series, know that it will probably be abandoned at some point for a clandestine assignm

...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I ordered an ice-cream sundae and received a plate of whipped cream. It went down easily, I finished it, but something lacked substance, some critical ingredient went missing. James Bond without the martinis and cartoony villains? Jason Bourne without the picturesque small-European-car chases through French villages? Le Carre without the cynic's realization that the good guys are scarcely better than the bad? Somehow or another Silva has managed to write a spy novel that lacks either...more I feel like I ordered an ice-cream sundae and received a plate of whipped cream. It went down easily, I finished it, but something lacked substance, some critical ingredient went missing. James Bond without the martinis and cartoony villains? Jason Bourne without the picturesque small-European-car chases through French villages? Le Carre without the cynic's realization that the good guys are scarcely better than the bad? Somehow or another Silva has managed to write a spy novel that lacks either the superficial layer of charm or the devastating political undertone. Yet every page was packed with thrills, and perhaps on a sheer thrills per word count basis, Silva might be the best practicing spy novelist alive. (I'm not sure for certain, as I don't read that many thrillers. This may change...)

If I should start with something positive, it's that Silva's experience with Beltway newsrooms means he has crafted characters whose politics are absolutely in line with the real world. There is no evil S.P.E.C.T.R.E. lurking around the corner nor does EVIL Inc. plan to raise money off the stock market to finance a shooting -- people's politics are exactly where they tend to be, and conspiracy buffs play a small but real component of some conversations whereas professionals in each field also make the decisions they have to make at various intervals. The Jews, ironically enough, (view spoiler)

This book was 2.99 on iBooks. Silva is clearly hoping to introduce a new cohort of readers to the series that is already underway, and in that regard, he's succeeded. I do want to check out some of his other works, it's just a question of whether I can go to 9.99 for a one-read thriller, whereas I have no problem doing that for a twenty-read literary fiction novel. Western readers with access to a library should probably check this book out first, and then jump in; those whose jobs take them far from free reading libraries probably need to make a dollar-time-word count assessment, and then decide whether they're going to become a Silva fanatic.

Unusual for #jewishhero #jewishspy.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Ian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love the Gabriel Allon series.

And this one sure doesn't disappoint. As other reviewers have stated, Daniel Silva has used the same formula with the other books in the series. This is now my third so I'm not tired of it.

I thoroughly enjoy Gabriel's character, however, wish we'd see some development in Chiara, his wife. She's obviously very smart but we seem to see her mostly presented as the gorgeous, young wife who is also an extraordinary cook.

Nadia who plays a critical role in this book is a...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Whenever I read a Daniel Silva novel, I have to keep reminding myself that it is fiction. Gabriel Allon has turned down the job of heading Israel’s intelligence service in favor of restoring a newly turned-up Titian in a quiet village in Cornwall. He makes the mistake of following a man that he suspects is carrying a bomb into Covent Garden. From there he is drawn in by his old associates into stopping a terror ring led by an American- born Muslim cleric. The key to his operation is a beautiful...more

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Aug 20, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fiction, thrillers

This is the 11th Gabriel Allon novel from Silva, and it is very good. At the same time, when you've done ten previous titles in a series, then it's easy for things to start to seem repetitive and derivative of previous outings, and that's once again the problem here. The last time around, the problem was surmounted by a particularly good plot line, but this one takes a bit of a step back on the plot front, making the more formulaic aspects of things more noticeable. Perhaps some of it is because...more This is the 11th Gabriel Allon novel from Silva, and it is very good. At the same time, when you've done ten previous titles in a series, then it's easy for things to start to seem repetitive and derivative of previous outings, and that's once again the problem here. The last time around, the problem was surmounted by a particularly good plot line, but this one takes a bit of a step back on the plot front, making the more formulaic aspects of things more noticeable. Perhaps some of it is because I've read several of the titles in the past six months or so in an attempt to get caught up on the series, but I've treated other series authors in similar ways in the past and not had this same sense of having been there and done that. Oh, well. The bottom line is that, for whatever the reason, things did not seem particularly fresh here. For starters, Gabriel, an art restorer when he's not helping out Israeli intelligence, has been given a new restoration commission, which can only mean that he's about to get drawn back into his old life once again, just as washing your car can only mean that it's going to rain tomorrow. And so Gabriel and his old antiterrorism team are reunited once again and set about to put down the bad guys by employing their usual methods, including the use of some tactics that are tied to Allon's knowledge of art and the art world. And they more or less succeed (as always), but not without cost and not without (as always) a lot of angst and suffering and guilt for Allon.

And perhaps it is this last point that is beginning to get tedious for me, because everyone involved in this story would have been upset and disappointed by the things that went wrong here, but once again it is Allon who needs the time to recover mentally; it is Allon who has everyone worried; it is Allon who needs delicate handling by people tiptoeing around his damaged psyche, etc. Yes, he's the one who took some physical abuse as things played out, but they *all* failed when failure happened, not just Allon, and this willingness of his to take on the weight of the world is admirable, but tedious. Yes, I'm repeating that word because it fits so well here. And the whole thing just doesn't speak highly of the rest of the team who, if the lack of any mention is at all indicative, just went back to their "regular" lives with no scars of any kind, or something.

Beyond that, two particular oddities stood out for me in this one. The first was the choice of artwork for the hardback cover, which I realize isn't exactly something that is entirely within the control of the author. But here we get an image of the Louvre, which I would think would lead most readers to think that this particular museum is going to play a role in the story, and probably a significant one. But in reality, it plays no role at all, other than to have its windows rattled at one point. So anyone who picks up this book as a Louvre fan is going to be quite disappointed. I can only assume that the cover was meant to speak to both the art side of the story and to its European elements, but it still seems like a deceptive choice to me. The second oddity was one that definitely fell into Silva's purview, on the other hand. Near the end of the book, one of Allon's team is working with a group of Israeli commandos, and they are making their way to Allon's location to lend him a hand when ... well, nothing. That's it. They're on their way, and then we never hear anything more about them. We hear another character mention this team member later on, indicating that he is alive and well and all of that, but there's a huge hole in his narrative and we hear nothing from him at all about this missing time. Did he and the commando team just give up? Were they, in reality, the "Saudi military patrol" that Silva mentions? And if so, why misidentify them to the reader?

In any case, and in spite of these issues, Silva continues to be a darn good writer who does his homework and who doesn't give in to the sort of over-the-top nonsense that so many thriller writers can't seem to resist. And it is because of the overall quality of Silva's work that I expect so much from him and am disappointed when something falls short, and it's why I believe that a review of one of his books deserves far more than an "I liked it" or an "I didn't like it." As for this one, and in spite of some disappointments and unanswered questions over it, I will still be reading the next and most recent outing in the series sooner, rather than later. And I will try to remember to blame myself at least in part for any sense of déjà vu that I experience.(less)

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Aug 04, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the first Daniel Silva book I have read, but it certainly won't be the last. The Fallen Angel is on my nightstand right now. I don't think I can say anything about this book better than the review that is on the back cover, which says,

"Set against the disparate world of art and intelligence, Portrait of a Spy moves swiftly from the corridors of power in Washington to the glamorous auction houses of NY and London to the unforgivable landscape of the Saudi desert."

One of the settings not m...more

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Jul 04, 2012 J rated it 3 of 5 stars

BEWARE OF SPOILERS.

The titled portrait of the spy is the canvas that Gabriel Allon paints after the death of the book's Middle Eastern heroine, Nadia al Bakari. She runs the business empire built by her murdered father, who was gunned down for his hidden terrorist activities. She was a teen at the time, and never knew about his terrorist activities during his lifetime. After inheriting his wealth, Nadia has moved moves her business HQ to Europe, and runs it with competence. She rarely goes back...more BEWARE OF SPOILERS.

The titled portrait of the spy is the canvas that Gabriel Allon paints after the death of the book's Middle Eastern heroine, Nadia al Bakari. She runs the business empire built by her murdered father, who was gunned down for his hidden terrorist activities. She was a teen at the time, and never knew about his terrorist activities during his lifetime. After inheriting his wealth, Nadia has moved moves her business HQ to Europe, and runs it with competence. She rarely goes back home anymore, because there she has to don traditional garb, refrain from driving, defer to men, etc.

The book opens with a covert bombing in Covent Garden, London, which the alert Allon had noticed underway, and tried to prevent -- but was foiled by Brit police who presumed Allon was the criminal when they saw him try to pull his gun on the bomber (who went ahead to detonate, and as a result, killed a crowd).

Next, Gabriel, Carter et al recruit the elusive, highly-secured Nadia to donate to charitable causes that funnel to hidden terrorist organizations, so they can electronically track the funds to the terrorists -- and prevent future terrorist attacks. She agrees, even though she's surrounded by aides who were loyal to her father and his terrorist endeavors.

Nadia's cooperation more or less counterbalances the damage done earlier by the U.S. when it had supported an American-born Muslim cleric as a tool to moderate radical Muslims in the Middle East. The cleric turns out to be a rad radical, and the Covent Garden explosion was connected to him. He used U.S. funding to surreptitiously organize terrorists. When he changes sides, he exposes a number of previously camouflaged U.S. sympathizers.

Along the way, Nadia becomes a symbol of change and independence for ordinary Muslim women in the Middle East.

Nadia dies for her role assisting the Westerners, though the plan does succeed. In her posthumous honor, Allon paints Nadia from memory; the portrait will grace a new Nadia al-Bakarai wing at a New York art museum. (Even though Allon failed to rescue Nadia when her cover was blown, she had a fatal congenital defect that could have flared at any time, killing her anyway.)(less)

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Mar 14, 2012 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/03/...

Portrait of a Spy is my first book by Daniel Silva and is the 11th in the Gabriel Allon series. That really wasn’t a problem for me, though, since the author is very good at getting you up to speed without infodump, inserting little background snippets throughout the story. Speaking of story… The story begins with the determined retirement of Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon with his lovely wife Chiara, which i...more You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/03/...

Portrait of a Spy is my first book by Daniel Silva and is the 11th in the Gabriel Allon series. That really wasn’t a problem for me, though, since the author is very good at getting you up to speed without infodump, inserting little background snippets throughout the story. Speaking of story… The story begins with the determined retirement of Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon with his lovely wife Chiara, which is thwarted with three suicide bombings in very public places throughout Europe. Our hero, Gabriel, happens to notice the third bomber and tries to take him down, but is thwarted, resulting in the deaths of 18 people. Other than the obvious horror of this, there’s another reason that Gabriel takes this kind of thing very personally, and he finds himself sucked into the search for the terrorist behind these attacks.

As a fan of the Bourne movies, and also of Nelson DeMille’s novels, I was pretty sure I’d like this book, but I couldn’t have predicted just how much I’d like it. Gabriel is the strong, man of few words type, and although I would have liked to see more of his wife, Chiara, you get the sense she’s always on his mind, and she’s also a formidable asset to the Israeli intelligence community. The race to find this terrorist mastermind is full of twists and turns, and the manipulations of the CIA and various other agencies, will keep you riveted, as will the various personalities of Gabriel’s team.

Like I said, this is #11 in a series, so I know there’s lots of history I’ve missed, but the author does his best to immerse you in the events at hand, and let you in on enough that you really don’t feel left out, although you’ll want to go back and start from book 1 if this is your first one as well (I know I do.) My favorite character, aside from the enigmatic Gabriel, is the lovely Nadia, who’s Saudi Arabian father had the blood of many on his hands, and is the head of his vast fortune since his murder when she was a child. She’s been covertly trying to right his wrongs since that very day, using said vast fortune to that advantage, and is recruited by Gabriel’s team to take down the terrorist responsible for the bombings. She’s a fascinating woman, and reading about what women in that part of the world have to endure will endear her to you, in spite of her vast wealth. If you love this kind of stuff (and I do), and you enjoy just plain good writing, with lots of subtle, nuanced characterizations, you’ll really enjoy Portrait of a Spy, and you’ll be turning the pages late into the night to find out what happens. The author juggles multiple players without tangling threads and manages a lot of detail without confusing the reader. This one’s not to be missed for thriller fans!(less)

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Feb 24, 2012 Kathleen (Kat) Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, murder-mystery, supense-thriller-fiction

Gabriel Allon knows what its like to live a double life. He's spent the better part of his life living the life of a Spy, sometimes working for Israel and sometimes working for the United States. Now he's being called upon again and the tranquil life he had been trying to live with his wife restoring paintings, is about to be put on hold.

Gabriel Allon is one of the top operatives in the field and when terrorist attacks begin popping up in Paris, Copenhagen and then Covent Garden in London, all t...more Gabriel Allon knows what its like to live a double life. He's spent the better part of his life living the life of a Spy, sometimes working for Israel and sometimes working for the United States. Now he's being called upon again and the tranquil life he had been trying to live with his wife restoring paintings, is about to be put on hold.

Gabriel Allon is one of the top operatives in the field and when terrorist attacks begin popping up in Paris, Copenhagen and then Covent Garden in London, all timed around the fateful 9/11 bombings that happened in 2001, in their retrospective time zones, Gabriel knows that this is no accident. Another mastermind in the field of terrorism is on the rise and no one seems to be able to know just when he will strike next. Now Gabriel is called back in to Washington to help them find a paid CIA asset that appeared to be working for the United States but turns out was using the CIA to form a new network of terror all over the globe. Now that he's gone missing, they want Gabriel to use whatever means necessary to find Rashid and kill him before he has time to plan another attack this time in the United States.

The pawn in this plan is to utilize someone with terrorist ties to gain an inside foothold into the door of where they are operating and to locate just whose at the head of planning these new attacks. The only problem is that Gabriel killed her father while she watched and now they want her to be their inside contact into the world of terrorism. Will he be able to convince her to cooperate or will Gabriel turn out to be the pawn inside to get revenge on the man who killed her father?

In the novel, Portrait of A Spy by Daniel Silva, readers are taken into the midst of non stop action while bombs are exploding and people are dying to get to the root of the latest terrorist attacks aimed at the United States. This is my first book by Daniel Silva and certainly won't be my last. This borders on things that may occur at some point in the future and that's what makes this suspense thriller a page-turner to the end. I received this book compliments of Planned TV Arts and Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I loved it and rate it a heart-stopping 5 out of 5 stars. (less)

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Oct 31, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2011

The latest episode of the Gabriel Allon series, which does not materially differ from the earlier episodes. Allon thinks he’s “out of the game” only to be pulled back in to fight the terrorists again. This time he is assisting the CIA to track down a rouge asset (Rashid) the CIA had cultivated, but who has now defected and is issuing the rally call to jihadists from his secret hiding place in Yemen. Rashid is based loosely on Anwar al-Awlaki (now deceased by U.S. Gov’t drone attacks on Sept. 30,...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thrillers

Silva, Daniel. PORTRAIT OF A SPY. (2011). ****.
This is the author’s latest installment in his series featuring Gabriel Allon. Allon is a well-known and respected art conservationist (restorer) and, less well known, an “angel of vengence.” He is a spy of the highest rank and an assassin that does the bidding of the top agencies of the world. Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, were spending a pleasant weekend in London, visiting the gallery of a close friend. His friend had a painting to show him. It...more Silva, Daniel. PORTRAIT OF A SPY. (2011). ****.
This is the author’s latest installment in his series featuring Gabriel Allon. Allon is a well-known and respected art conservationist (restorer) and, less well known, an “angel of vengence.” He is a spy of the highest rank and an assassin that does the bidding of the top agencies of the world. Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, were spending a pleasant weekend in London, visiting the gallery of a close friend. His friend had a painting to show him. It was a badly soiled and neglected oil painting that the gallery owner had picked up for a song, along with some other lesser works by relative unknowns, since he felt that it might be the work of an important painter of the Italian Renaissance. When Gabriel looked at the painting, he had a feeling that they had discovered something of rare value – an unknown work by Titian. Gabriel took on the job of restoring the painting – and confirming his believe in the actual provenance of the work – and started the work in a small cottage in Cornwall. This was truly a break from his usual activities in spycraft, one that was to be his slide into retirement. On a trip to London with Chiara, he notices a man who fit his mental description of a suicide bomber: an over-sized coat, the constant movement of his lips while walking, the intense expression on his face – all tells that Allon knew by heart. Allon decided to terminate the suspected bomber when he finally revealed himself by shooting him in the head and avoiding the killing of countless people in Covent Garden – the target of the bomber. When Allon was ready to take his shot, he was tackled by two British policemen, at the same time as the bomber pressed the detonator. Why? Eighteen people, including one of the tackling policemen, were killed. Allon is then called to a meeting in Washington, where he then becomes involved in a scheme to prevent bombings like this to continue – as they had recently in France and Denmark. The scheme involved the creation and support of a deadly organization of fanatic Moslems using the money of a woman who was reputed to be the richest woman in the world. She was an Arab, and her husband had recently been gunned down by two assassins driving by on motorcycles. It also turned out that Allon was one of the killers. Using her money and influence, the spy organizations involved felt that they could control the newly funded group and ultimately use them to point out individuals that needed to be swept off the playing field. The plan is put into place, and the game began. The author has managed to write another highly convincing thriller related to today’s edgy relationships between the Western and Arab worlds. It is an intelligent novel that is superbly plotted and researched, and will keep you turning pages well into the night. Recommended.
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Aug 12, 2011 Gail Cooke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

With literally hundreds of audiobook narrations to his credit and enough awards to fill many mantels, Simon Vance is an acclaimed voice performer. Formerly a newsman for the BBC, his voice is rich, resonant, strong, wonderfully suited to bring Silva’s affecting protagonist to life. Portrait Of A Spy is pure listening pleasure.

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 r...more

With literally hundreds of audiobook narrations to his credit and enough awards to fill many mantels, Simon Vance is an acclaimed voice performer. Formerly a newsman for the BBC, his voice is rich, resonant, strong, wonderfully suited to bring Silva’s affecting protagonist to life. Portrait Of A Spy is pure listening pleasure.

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.

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.

Pairing the skills of bestselling author Silva and superb voice performer Vance results in an edition of Portrait Of A Spy that is extraordinary in every sense of the word.

- Gail Cooke (less)

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Aug 10, 2011 Jay Connor rated it 5 of 5 stars

Silva again justifies my claim that he is today's best writer of international intrigue. He is to our world of jihad what Ludlum and Le Carre were to the cold war -- unrivaled. Not only does he write "ahead of the headlines" but imbues this struggle with courage and character in the face of unspeakable evil. Unlike Clancy and Flynn, Daniel Silva writes of a world which is more complex and nuanced than a testosterone tempest.

His lead is Gabriel Allon, an art restorer and at-large agent of Israeli...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Caroline Bock rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read through this in one day -- a mini vacation! Another captivating, intelligent thriller by Daniel Silva. What I love about his work is that it feels so current, so real and provocative about extremism and the men and women who fight it. (I don't want to give away any spoilers, but Saudi Arabia is prominent in this novel). His main character, Gabriel Allon, remains emotionally deep and thoughtful (almost too much, but then he's sharing exposition with us in the least cumbersome way possible)...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Darcy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, mystery, spies

What I like about these books is that there are things I can count on when picking it up. I know Gabriel will be very reluctantly pulled back into a job for moral reasons, not because he missed the work. That Gabriel will pull together his team, who are really like a very quirky family that fights all the time, but still gets the job done. The job will end up with cooperation between Israel, Great Britain, and the US, with those very famous heads of the spy industry forced to work together. Beca...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Shawn Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars

Gabriel Allon, Mossad Officer extraordinaire, has decided to retire from the espionage business. He and his wife, Chiara, nestle into a faintly reclusive life in a small British community. Allon, however, cannot get away from his past. No matter how many paintings he restores, restoring normalcy in his own life escapes him and he finds himself again at the center of terrorism's storm.

I love Silva's novels. They were my introduction into the thriller genre, and I look forward to them so eagerly t...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Beverly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gabriel Allon, art restorer and spy, just wants to live a quiet life in Cornwall. He just keeps on being drawn back into the game. While in London on a day when there were bombings in Paris aand Copenhagen, Gabriel tries to take down a man he thinks might also have a bomb. However he is stopped by English Special Branch. He is then recruited to help the CIA, England and Israel try to take down the new Bin Laden. A man named Rashid, cultivated by the CIA for his seemingly pacifist views, has defe...more

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Nov 02, 2011 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

My rating of 3 stars is partly based on the fact that this book reads as a same-old thing from Daniel Silva. It's not that it's bad, and it's even up to date (including Osama's death in the plot); Yet it feels like no new ground has been treaded. It's the same exposition, the same means of giving Gabriel an assignment, and it involves terrorism. Again, if you've not read this a dozen times already from Silva, then by all means read this and enjoy.

I said my rating is partly based on that, it's mo...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Ric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

On this, my 4th Gabriel Allon book, it has finally dawned on me that Daniel Silva has told me essentially the same story four different ways. Or he may be iterating on a theme as he tries to write the perfect novel that so far remains resolutely locked in his creative mind. I can point to several repeating elements in these books: Allon is drawn out of retirement, a new bad guy is introduced, Allon gathers together his team from the Office, a neophyte spy is recruited, Allon prepares a detailed

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Aug 24, 2012 Terry Huebner rated it 5 of 5 stars

There are certain authors who occupy a special place for me in that I always look forward to their work and feel a sense of longing when I finish. John Sandford and Lee Child are two of these authors and Daniel Silva is a third. His Gabriel Allon series is thoughtful, topical and well-crafted, full of interesting multi-dimensional characters that it has been a pleasure to come to know. In this outstanding effort, Gabriel spots a suicide bomber while walking on a London street with his wife and i...more

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Oct 30, 2012 Jillaire rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club

Spy thrillers are not my usual pick, but this was recommended by a friend and was the summer read choice of my (former--sniff sniff) book club. I moved before the book club discussed it, but as I had a copy, I decided to read it. I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it. There were twists and turns and lots of characters to keep straight and to try to figure out, keeping me interested and guessing. It was also very current and included so many facts from the real history of terrorism that I fo...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Dustin Hill rated it 3 of 5 stars

Daniel Silva's Portrait of a Spy is a very solid story that is easy to read. Silva has proven time and again that he has a good geopolitical feel for the world. This book may have proved more so than many of his others. His portrayal of an Arab uprising is very timely.

The book also is an interesting read for those interested in the current U.S. political scene. Though not overt, Silva gives a glimpse of the right-leaning tendencies of the U.S. intelligence system. I get the sense that Silva doe...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Alina rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of the things I didn’t realize when I first ordered this book is that Portrait of a Spy is book #11 of his Gabriel Allon series. The great part is that it didn’t matter! We got just enough information about all the character that it didn’t matter that neither of us had ever read any of these books before. The great thing too, is that since these books are thrillers and not mysteries, if we go back and read the preceding books, it doesn’t matter.

Terrorism is a very touchy subject and I felt t...more One of the things I didn’t realize when I first ordered this book is that Portrait of a Spy is book #11 of his Gabriel Allon series. The great part is that it didn’t matter! We got just enough information about all the character that it didn’t matter that neither of us had ever read any of these books before. The great thing too, is that since these books are thrillers and not mysteries, if we go back and read the preceding books, it doesn’t matter.

Terrorism is a very touchy subject and I felt that this book handled the subject quite deftly. You get perspectives of extremism and you also get moderate views. Though the characters don’t always justify their reasons there are those who have very high tolerance and those who have very low tolerance for terrorists and varying view on how to deal with/respond to them. I learned a lot about how certain terrorist acts are handled these days. I really liked the explanation of the terrorist attach at the beginning of the book and why the authorities took the actions they did. You could tell that the author did his research to justify what happened.

The story was complicated and I was excited to learn about all the twists and turns that it took. I loved the hidden jabs that the book took on the US government because a great part of me tends to also have a very jaded view of how bureaucratic our government is. I have some personal experience with that, so I enjoyed many of the subtle and not so subtle jabs.

I found the initial chapter a little slow, but I understood that I was learning about the main characters and what they were all about, so I didn’t mind too much. I think my favorite part about the book was the depth of Gabriel Allon. I found him to be a strikingly complicated character and loved how the author described Allon’s thought processes and rationals. Though I think many people may think of Allon as being too idealistic as a spy, but I actually know people who think as complicated and as quickly as this character does, so I found it very real.

I also enjoyed the character of Nadia al Bakari. She too was a complicated character with divided loyalties. (She’s the heroic Arab character of the story.) You get a glimpse of female Saudi life through her perspective and receive her views on terrorism and Islam and her beliefs that they are not one in the same. She is a powerful, courageous character who does what she can for her people.

I’m not much into giving summaries of stories and in this case it probably wouldn’t really hurt to do so, but I hope I’ve intrigued you enough to consider reading this well written book yourself.

Enjoy!(less)

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Jul 16, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Daniel Silva is one of my favorite authors. His combination of Washington, DC, London, the CIA, MI6 (or 5?), and Israeli intelligence combined with many European destinations I have visited make his books fun to read as well as highly exciting suspense. This book starts in Cornwall, UK. I love the descriptions of the seaside and village. One thing that REALLY disappointed me even before I started reading was the size. This book is physically smaller than the others. Like so many other things in...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Iris rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, light-reading, espionage-military

This is the first novel I have read by Daniel Silva. I have found a new spy-story author! Portrait of a Spy continues a series of spy stories centered on the Israeli spy Gabriel Allon, and although 10 books come before this one, I never felt like I was missing backstory. Silva builds his story around modern events - in this story it is terrorist bombings and the Arab Spring. When the CIA fears that the latest bombings are the work of one of their former assets, they ask Allon to fix their proble...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is my second Daniel Silva book and I found it pretty well done. His books are a lot like those of David Ignatius and have a good authentic feel for the middle east environment. Silva does get a little more over the top in his action and political relations between Mossad, CIA and MI-6 but the story plot does have parallels to actual events such as the recent suspected Mossad assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, senior commander of the Palestinian paramilitary group Hamas which took place in...more This is my second Daniel Silva book and I found it pretty well done. His books are a lot like those of David Ignatius and have a good authentic feel for the middle east environment. Silva does get a little more over the top in his action and political relations between Mossad, CIA and MI-6 but the story plot does have parallels to actual events such as the recent suspected Mossad assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, senior commander of the Palestinian paramilitary group Hamas which took place in Dubai in 2010. The news reports of this assassination in a Dubai hotel are strikingly similar to the operation that Gabriel's team pulls off in this book.
Silva's political slant is a little obvious in his critique of the American President (who is obviously meant to be Obama)although those feelings are somewhat redeemed at the end when the President sacks his counter-teerorism advisor
Gabriel Allon is a semi-retired Mossad operative who also is an expert art restorer and painter who just happens in upon a suicide terrorist bombing in London which he unsuccessfully tries to foil. When it is determined that the bombing was orchestrated and funded by a new splinter group headquartered in Yemen other than Al Quaeda , and headed by a person previously living in the US (presumably a reference to the real American -born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki) he gets recruited to organize a plot to root him out through a joint CIA/Mossad mission.
They decide that the best way to find him is by tracking the money finanacing his operation. He needs someone that will not be suspected by the terrorists who will supply financing so they can track it to it's destination. Taking a huge stretch of the imagination Allon recruits Nadia al Bakari the daughter of an Arabian billionaire businessman who Gabriel had assassinated years earier to front the money which is to be laundered via a priceless painting auction. Nadia is an art collector and ammenable because she has secretly taken up the battle to improve women's conditions under the harsh Muslim sharia law.
The story become somewhat predictible but Silva manages to infuse enough action to overlook some of the shortcomings and believeability. This is definitely more Ian Flemming than John LeCarre'.(less)

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Dec 22, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gabriel Allon and his wife are supposed to be retired . Gabe and Chiara have moved to a small village on the English coast. Now he can devote his other talent to restoring paintings.....his first love after , Chiara. But his peaceful retirement will soon be interrupted by 2 explosions....one in Paris and one in Copenhagen. And somehow he knows his life is going to revert to his other talent.....being a very good covert agent. He now must work as an independent agent, no longer affiliated with Is...more

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About Daniel Silva

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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Books by Daniel Silva

The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon, #10)

The English Assassin (Gabriel Allon, #2)

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Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11)

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