Rating: 
Summary: An Average Read: The English Assassin by Daniel Silva
Review: Atonement for the past has always been, at the very least, a major secondary theme in Daniel Silva's novels. However, in this case, he has raised it to the front and center major theme of the novel. That theme, along with plenty of very detailed history lessons combine to make this novel at times an interesting, if overall very slow moving, read.Gabriel Allon is still doing occasional spy work for the unnamed Israeli Spy Agency as well as still restoring art works. He works for Julian Isherwood, an art dealer with a rather fatal affliction for an art dealer. Julian hates to sell any of the artwork that grace his walls and as such, if one is sold, falls into an incredible depression. He too seems to work at times for the unnamed Israeli Spy Agency but the lines are less clear than that with Gabriel. Julian tells Gabriel he has been contacted in a rather roundabout way, not unusual in the murky art world according to Julian, and has been asked to send Gabriel to Zurich, Switzerland to restore a painting. While restoring art is the one thing that gives Gabriel peace and allows him to live with himself, he is less that thrilled with the idea of going to Switzerland, especially under such strange circumstances. Gabriel eventually agrees and when he arrives at the home where he is to restore the painting, discovers a dead man on the floor. Gabriel has killed in the past on behalf of the Israeli Spy Agency and can't afford to report his finding to the Police. He flees the scene and attempts to flee the country, before being picked up by the Swiss Police. Gabriel learns from the Police that the dead man was a very wealthy Swiss banker (among other things), Augustus Rolfe and while the Police can't prove he did it, they know of another killing he most definitely committed on their soil. Soon, Shamron, Gabriel's spy boss, learns of the arrest and is forced to make a deal to have Gabriel released. Shamron arranges for Gabriel's release and freedom for him to leave the country contingent on his never returning to Switzerland and in exchange, wants and demands Gabriel's help. ''Listen to me, Gabriel!' Shamron slammed his fist onto the console. 'Augustus Rolfe, a Swiss banker, wanted to speak to us and for that he was murdered. I want to know what Rolfe was going to tell us, and I want to know who killed him for it!'' Shamron gets what he wants when Gabriel reluctantly agrees to help. This action brings him into the sights of an assassin only known as 'The Englishman.' The assassin works for a powerful group of Swiss businessman and financiers who want to keep secret the fact that the Swiss actively collaborated with and funded the Nazi war machine and have retained not only the monetary profits of such actions but the millions of pieces of artwork looted by the Nazi's has they rolled over Europe. Interspersed frequently with very detailed history lessons, 'The Englishman' and Gabriel Allon play a cat and mouse game across Europe with the stolen artwork just part of the problem. Between them, like a prize bird in a cage, is Anna Rolfe, a trouble woman who is also a brilliant concert violinist. While she knows nothing of her father's dark legacy she very well may lose her life because of it. While this is by no mans Daniel Silva's best work, it is better that most of the so-called thrillers on the market today which does not say much for the market today. The action is much more limited than in his previous works but at the same time fits the stereotypical characters as written. At the same time, this is the same kind of situation that has been beaten to death in the past and it is somewhat disappointing to read yet another book on the same subject. Instead of preaching lessons told better elsewhere, it would have behooved Mr. Silva to look for inspiration elsewhere and hopefully, now that this particular novel is out of his system, he will return to what made him worth reading in the first place.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is excellent! Intriguing! The title is very misleading though...but the story is great you won't want to put the book down.
Rating: 
Summary: Fooled Again
Review: I have real hot/cold feelings about Silva's work, either really enjoying ("Unlikely Spy", "Kill Artist") or hating ("The Marching Season", "Mark of the Assassin") each of his books. But I really believed in the potential of the new cast of characters introduced in "The Kill Artist", which was a very enjoyable quick read. Unfortunately, the author was unable to keep momentum with this by-the-numbers sequel, where this interesting cast is forced to sleepwalk through the same old throwaway spy novel plot conventions. The entire book feels forced, either by the publisher's desire to pump out a quick follow-up or by the author's zeal to expose what an awful world neighbor Switzerland really is. Whatever the motivation, I found myself sleepwalking through to the end of this one as quickly as possible.
Rating: 
Summary: Seriously Good
Review: This is a first-rate thriller about a mixture of cultures
and time periods, as an art-restorer/Israeli agent is sent to
Switzerland to restore a fine old master for an aging Swiss
banker, only to find him shot dead in the middle of a very
secret inner vault that is also very empty of paintings. Before the restorer can get away, he is nabbed by the Swiss
federal police and subjected to a very detailed questioning
that raise questions themselves. The restorer, then in the
guise of an Israeli agent, then has to meet up with the
reclusive, but brilliant violinist who is the dead banker's
daughter, and the fun begins. While those two are fencing with each other about the dead
banker and his secrets, they bump into much larger secrets,
including those of the relationship between the Third Reich
and the Swiss government and their closed banking society
during the WWII period, and they discover that the secrets
of that era continue onto modern Switzerland. But as the restorer, Gabriel, tracks backward in time to learn
just what the old banker had hidden in his inner vault, he
bumps into "The English Assassin" who has started killing off
Garbiel's contacts and informants. This thriller does a nice job of presenting complex questions
and moving the mystery forward at a nice pace. In addition,
the author intervweaves considerable mystery about the real,
historical association between Nazi leaders of the '30s and '40s
and various leaders and bankers of Switzerland of that era, as
well as some considerable efforts by the present Swiss authorities to cover up that prior association. He presents
information suggesting the Swiss cooperated with known Nazi
war criminals and murderers for the sake of plain profit, and
his foray into history is at least as interesting as his fictional conflict. The author does a very credible job of handling all the mysteries and characters; he makes them interesting and real,
and the reader will definitely want to keep reading to learn
how everything turns out. The only reason we might not rate this as a "5-star" read is
the overly-convenient ending that has long-time enemies, and
their masters, suddenly, and without good reason, working
toward the same goals and adopting a "forgive and forget" approach to basis of their animosities. So the ending is a
bit too slick and easy, but, nonetheless, this is a good story
and well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Suspense Spy Thriller That's As Good As It Gets!
Review: The "English Assassin" was my introduction to author Daniel Silva, and to his art restorer cum Israeli spy, Gabriel Allon. This intelligently written, international espionage thriller, filled with intrigue and vengeance, is as good is it gets. Mr. Silva's style is reminiscent, but not derivative, of Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth and John LeCarre. He is definitely in their league and oh, so original, with his 21st century relevant storyline. I have waited for a long time for an author of this caliber to appear and keep me on the edge of my seat, reading through the night. I was unable to put this book down. Gabriel Allon is a brilliant Israeli art restorer, residing in Cornwall, England. He is a complex, melancholy man - not much humor here. Allon had worked for many years as an Israeli intelligence agent, and assassin, (when necessary), losing his young son and wife to violence as a consequence of his work. Now he just wants to restore paintings and be left alone with his torment and his guilt. Allon is coerced back to active spy duty when he is asked to go to Zurich to clean the work of an Old Master for a Swiss millionaire banker. He arrives at his clients house only to find the man dead at his feet - murdered, obviously. Allon has too much of a history in Switzerland to call the police, so he attempts to flee the country. He is caught within a half hour, (pretty fast, even for the Swiss), and framed for the murder. Thus begins a chain of events that pairs Allon with the dead banker's beautiful, violin virtuoso daughter, as they seek the killer and the motive. Their search takes them all over Europe, where they begin to uncover secrets dealing with Nazi art theft, international conspiracy, priceless hidden treasures buried in Swiss vaults, a decade-old suicide, multiple murders, and a very mysterious English assassin. This assassin fellow is one of my favorite villains - and his Corsican friends are just too much! Mr. Silva's characters are believable and fascinating. His plots and subplots are beautifully developed and gripping; his historical detail is on the money. What more could you ask for in a novel? I cannot wait to get my hands on more of his books. Hopefully when I catch-up and read what I have missed, Mr. Silva will have written another winner.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable but predictable and simplistic
Review: It's a fun read with decent characters, but it skims the surface of what it must be like to live a life in the shadows. I kept thinking that the protagonists were very careless in their attempts (or lack thereof) to conceal their identities, and the actions segments were not gripping. The historical references to the Nazi-Swiss collaboration will be interesting to those new to those theories. I enjoyed 'Rain Fall' by Barry Eisler much more.
Rating:
Summary: Average thriller
Review: If you like real spy novels like Le Carre or Littel skip this novel. It is fast moving, but very predictable and reads as if it was written for an 8th grade reader. Read only if you want and quick and easy thriller.
Rating:
Summary: The New LeCarre
Review: In LeCarre's best work, the spy business is clouded in shadows...shadows of doubt, identity, loyalty, purpose. With the close of the Cold War and the retirement of George Smiley I despaired of ever seeing the likes of him again. Well I have, and his name is Gabriel Allon, who balances the thin line of duty and identity with the same tortured grace of Smiley himself. Allon is both the Angel of Death for the enemies of the state of Isreal and an angel of light whose skill as in art restoration brings back to life formerly magnificent paintings. Even more deliciously, Allon is pursued by The English Assassin, a man given to the dark side but so close to Allon in training, skill and, perhaps outlook as to be his alter ego. The game of cat and mouse and spy chaser and spy catcher twists and turns across the European continent, through the vaults of Swiss bankers and in the shadowy worlds of dealers in art looted from Jews by the Nazis. This is a book worth savoring.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel of a Nation With No Past
Review: During the occupation of Europe in World War II by Nazi forces, they seized hundreds, even thousands, of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art, pieces that remain unaccounted for, even to this day. This is the theme of the second novel by Daniel Silva to feature Gabriel Allon, art restorer and Israeli agent. A deep subject no doubt, but Silva's pen never runs dry. At first blush, I thought that the "English Assassin" of the title would be Gabriel himself, but no. Silva introduces us to a professional, trained by Gabriel, but operating out of Corsica. A slick rogue who takes any assignment provided the price is right and yet also needs to have a signadora remove the hex of an evil eye from his tarnished soul after what appears to be each sanction. When Gabriel is induced to go to Zurich to restore the painting of a reclusive millionaire, we suspect all is not what it seems. When he finds the millionaire murdered at the foot of a Raphael painting, one thing leads to another, including a secret collection that is missing. But, then, why leave the Raphael? Gabriel hooks up with Anna Rolfe, violin virtuoso and daughter of the slain millionaire and they head out on an intercontinental joy ride (Zurich, Portugal, Italy, Paris), seeking the murderer of her father and the key to missing objets d' art. The story of the English Assassin is told almost in parallel with the adventure of Gabriel and Anna, culminating even beyond the point where their story is finished. Silva knows his stuff, both his art and his history, as he portrays Switzerland as a trading center in looted art treasures. One of the characters in the book makes the statement, "Make sure no one else stumbles on any unpleasant reminders of the past. This is Switzerland. There is no past." Silva brings Gabriel back for his next novel as well. Good idea for he is backing a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Recommended... (3.5 stars)
Review: Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you like suspense, intrigue and a good old spy story. There were a few moments when the book failed to hold my attention, but not many. And those moments were mostly because the author gave more information than I wanted/needed to know about the art and its theft. I wanted to focus more on the characters and the people that the author made come alive in his storytelling. In that respect, this book is good. Characterization was great and I really liked Gabriel. The other characters were well drawn out too so it was easy to feel as if you knew them and thus could understand their motivations even if you disagreed with them. Even the "bad" guy had a decent side to him as well. The suspense was palpable. I felt the danger along with Gabriel, and his desperation to stay alive and figure out what in the heck was going on. Because the story takes place in different parts of the world, there was enough variation in the scenes to also add interest. There was also a sufficient amount of action to appease my taste for "movement" and excitement, and it kept me wondering what would happen next. The ending, generally, was as I expected, but it did seem to end rather quickly. But again, I would recommend the book. (Listened to unabridged audiobook version)
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