Rating: 
Summary: THE KILL ARTIST - Painting a brilliant espionage thriller
Review: A former Israeli black ops intelligence agent comes out of retirement to track down his nemesis, a Palestinian extremist who is willing to kill, and die for, the complete restoration of a self-governing Palestine. Gabriel Allen left the Israeli intelligence agency after a botched operation shredded his family and his life. Since leaving the agency, Gabriel has been looking for solace in the art of restoring old great oil paintings for a London art dealer. However, the risk of terrorism against a possible PLO/Israeli peace accord brings Gabriel back to make everything right for the world, and for his soul. The hunt is on to find Yusel al-Tawfiki, a former PLO terrorist who now believes Yasser Arafat has gone soft on too many issues. Yusel, ironically, hates Arafat and Israeli, and if that were not enough loathing, he also has a personal vengeance against the Israeli agent, Gabriel Allen, who has been sent to destroy Yusel. The storyline runs deep with its ever unfolding sub-text. And the characters, good and evil, have rich and compelling backgrounds with credible life circumstances. We see the dark politics that drives both nations and individuals who are willing to kill for family, country and religion. And we understand why. This is an art of fiction that brushes realism into each page to produce a top-notch espionage thriller.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written story but the plot is very simplistic
Review: After having read Silva's first book ("The Unlikely Spy") I thought I had found a great new talent in the action/thriller genre. But if "The Kill Artist" is any indication I think Silva has lost his touch. His writing style is still very good, but the plot of this novel reads like something out of a guide to writing a best-seller. "Unlikely Spy" was much more sophisticated than this. Because the style doesn't match the simplicity of the plot I'm giving the book three stars.
Rating:
Summary: Complex
Review: Author Silva has written another complex story, and this one
goes into depth about the Middle East conflict, one of the longest-running, and certainly the most deadly, in modern history. He relates the story of 2 assassins, one working for
Israel, and one working for Palestinian extremists, as they
move around various venues, one trying to disrupt and prevent
any peace settlement, the other trying to stop the Palestinians
from wrecking any possibility of peace.
The story of that conflict, and the unparalleled hatred that
continues to ignite further violence every day, is very complex,
and goes back in time a bit, but the author has done his research on both sides, and he does a nice job of presenting
both arguments.
Here, the Israeli intelligence has brought out of retirement
their agent who has retired to be a full-time art restorer, Gabriel Allen, to try to stop the murderous rampage started by
Palestinian Tariq. Each side has their women also, and they
play a prominent role, both physically and emotionally, in
the story and its conclusion.
The author's historical research is first-class, and this novel
can serve as an elementary basis for understanding that conflict, although he sometimes tries a bit too hard to give
each side equal billing and equal responsibility.
But the story has tension, and in most respects, it is believeable, so it flows along seamlessly, and it is easy to
keep going; as the saying goes, the story "flows." Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Complex
Review: Author Silva has written another complex story, and this one
goes into depth about the Middle East conflict, one of the longest-running, and certainly the most deadly, in modern history. He relates the story of 2 assassins, one working for
Israel, and one working for Palestinian extremists, as they
move around various venues, one trying to disrupt and prevent
any peace settlement, the other trying to stop the Palestinians
from wrecking any possibility of peace.
The story of that conflict, and the unparalleled hatred that
continues to ignite further violence every day, is very complex,
and goes back in time a bit, but the author has done his research on both sides, and he does a nice job of presenting
both arguments.
Here, the Israeli intelligence has brought out of retirement
their agent who has retired to be a full-time art restorer, Gabriel Allen, to try to stop the murderous rampage started by
Palestinian Tariq. Each side has their women also, and they
play a prominent role, both physically and emotionally, in
the story and its conclusion.
The author's historical research is first-class, and this novel
can serve as an elementary basis for understanding that conflict, although he sometimes tries a bit too hard to give
each side equal billing and equal responsibility.
But the story has tension, and in most respects, it is believeable, so it flows along seamlessly, and it is easy to
keep going; as the saying goes, the story "flows." Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Breathtaking thriller
Review: Couldn't put this book down. Daniel Silva has surpassed himself. What a wonderful read, this thriller. And so topical: the Middle East figures centrally.
Rating:
Summary: Atypical espionage.
Review: Daniel Silva carefully researched the "annals" of mid-east epionage and came up with a story that captures the machinations and duplicity that are the foundation of Israeli-PLO relations. At the end of this story I was not sure exactly who the "Kill Artist" was, as each side does its best to physically remove anyone who might be a threat to its survival or even to the cause of peace. Peace becomes so far more fragile than we have recognized. Silva makes it clear that in each camp there are those that consider peace negotiations to be a capitulation or a threat rather than the start of a brand new day. In this respect, the author is not one-sided and presents both sides of a very difficult issue. Pertinent to present day politics, one does get to meet certain characters that resemble the controversial Mark Rich. I could not help but think that if this presentation is accurate, it is not hard to understand why Israel was so insistent on a pardon for this man. I recommend The Kill Artist with only one reservation: make sure you have nothing important to tend to when you start this book as you will not be able to put it down!
Rating:
Summary: Another strong thriller from Daniel Silva
Review: Daniel Silva has yet to disappoint me. The action revolves around the Arab/PLO/Jewish conflict. As novels about that political situation are of little interest to me (my preference is the USA hardboiled detective), it takes an extraordinary tale to captivate me the way "The Kill Artist" did. As with Mr. Silva's other novels, I could not put it down. It's one of those books you steal time for. The pages fly by. The characters are richly portrayed and fairly complex. You get to know all of them. On both sides, the major players are flawed, and the reader must decide who truly wears the white hat. So much evil has been perpetuated on both sides...there is plenty of blame to spread around. Excellent cat and mouse plotting. Great attention to detail in the spy versus spy aspect and the physical settings. While it gets a bit muddy at the very end, I applaud this one and highly endorse it to those readers who are fascinated by thrillers that do not stretch credulity and place you as a reader in the middle of the action. Mr. Silva is an excellent story teller, who does his homework.
Rating: 
Summary: not worth all the hype
Review: Daniel Silva is one of those authors whose name gradually becomes familiar. I decided to pick up some of his novels after hearing favorable reviews on his latest book. I have just finished the Kill Artist and it was......OK. In my opinion, it took a long time for the plot to develop, halfway through the book I was ready for some kind of action. I also soon grew tired of the flashbacks and wanted the story to progress in the here and now. The novel did improve near the end but by then I was just slogging through the thing.
Hope the next one I read is an improvement.
Rating:
Summary: Silva at his best
Review: Daniel Silva is rapidly becoming the leading writer of thriller/espionage fiction in the U.S. Case in point is "The Kill Artist". Silva takes a well worn formula: a former operative leaves the business to pursue a new career ( in this case, a restorer of paintings ) but he is drawn back in by a former supervisor who teams him up with a former female agent with whom he has previously worked with and had an affair. Yet, with Silva's style and his economy of writing, it is as if we are treading on new ground. Gabriel Allon is the art restorer ( the "kill artist" of the title) and former Israeli operative; Ari Shamron, his former boss ( imagine Ariel Sharon in a bombadier jacket); and Jacqueline Delacroix, nee Sarah Halevy, the grandaughter of Sobibor victims and a current fashion model but former Israeli secret agent, comprise this triddium. When current Palestinian bad guy and super assassin Tariq "offs" some Israeli officials in Paris, Shamron puts the wheels in motion to bring Gabriel back in the game for one more mission. Tariq had planted a car bomb under Gabriel's family, so revenge becomes the dish best served cold. Silva takes us across three continents as the chess match pitting Gabriel against Tariq unfolds. From the middle east to Paris and London to Montreal and New York, we see each move, each gambit. Yet, Silva also takes time to explain how Gabriel, Jacqueline, and Tariq become who they are and how they get to their roles in this game. Fans of Silva's "The Marching Season" will also recognize President James Beckwith and Ambassador Douglas Cannon. Despite, every now and then, slipping in a sentence that doesn't make sense, Silva still gives us a good run. For example, Tariq is a hard nosed killer, yet Silva states that he "didn't have the stomach" for hitting Jacqueline in the face with a gun. Such minor gaffs should be overlooked in the grand scheme of a good story that really moves from chapter to chapter. The ending isn't quite what you would expect from a "normal" thriller and, even though the book ends right where it begins, nothing is quite as it seems. I understand that Gabriel returns in Silva's next novel. I can't wait.
Rating:
Summary: Palestinian-Israeli Spy Thriller -- Great Characters!
Review: Daniel Silva's "The Kill Artist" in many respects is a by-the-numbers thriller. A world-class Palestianian assassin has undertaken a daring plot to bring down the Middle East Peace Process. A lethal Israeli assassin is called out of retirement to pursue the Palestinian assassin, who destroyed his family.
For many fans of the genre, this plot description would be enough, and Silva has mastered the trade of writing this kind of classic airplane fiction (you know, the kind that you need to distract you from the glories of flying coach class from Seattle to Atlanta).
But fortunately, Silva has the patience and the talent to bring the reader deep within the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, a conflict where wheels turn within wheels and the left hand isn't much aware of what its own fingers are doing, much less the right hand. We also meet Gabriel Allon, one of the great tragic heroes of the genre, who bears more burdens than your average assassin and does so with a quiet dignity that is quite moving.
For fans of the genre, you'll be happy to note that all the right tunes are played, and played well. Plenty of action, a bevy of female characters straight out of a James Bond thriller -- beautiful, intelligent, and bearing deep secrets and even deeper emotions - and above all, a fine appreciation of the deep-rooted hatred that moves both sides.
A must-read for the fan of the spy novel!
|
