IMHO this is the very best in Daniel Silva's excellent Gabriel Allon series. It starts like many of Allon's adventures with something unrelated to the world of espionage and builds into a full-fledged espionage adventure with extreme international consequences.
Christopher Isherwood, a London Art Dealer with connections to the Israeli secret service, thinks he has made the discovery of his life with an unknown portrait by Rembrandt which will not only make his name but also his fortune. While the painting is being restored it is stolen and the restorer murdered. Isherwood's prospects sink totally as he hasn't insured the painting. In panic, he calls for the help of Gabriel Allon who is recovering from one of the most traumatic times in his dangerous career after a nearly fatal encounter with a top Russian General.
Gabriel soon finds that the painting had been "acquired" by a Nazi Jew hunter who is not only responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews in the Holocaust but also for building a fortune held in Swiss Bank accounts from the wealth of his victims. But the fortune has disappeared and anyone trying to discover its whereabouts has also disappeared.
In trying to find out what has happened to the money Gabriel not only uncovers some of the worst aspects of the Nazis but also the worst aspects of the person who now has control of the stolen wealth.
This is typical Allon stuff with 'The Office" finding out what has happened and getting involved with the world's main espionage agencies to avoid a world calamity. Once again he cleverly recruits an innocent person to gain access to the lion's den.
Highly recommended, especially to those who have read other books in the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment