Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "The English Spy: A Gabriel Allon Thriller" by Daniel Silva

Friday, July 29, 2016

Review of "The English Spy: A Gabriel Allon Thriller" by Daniel Silva

In this 15th book in the 'Gabriel Allon' series, the Israeli spy is hunting the bombmaker Quinn, who is responsible for the death of his family and the bombing of a British royal entourage. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

Israeli spy/art restorer Gabriel Allon is about to become the father of twins and the head of the Israeli spy agency when a British princess and her entourage are blown up.

The perpetrator is Quinn, the expert bomb-maker Gabriel deems ultimately responsible for the death of his first wife and child. So Gabriel goes back into the field with the goal of finding and killing Quinn.

Gabriel teams up with Keller, an AWOL British soldier and skilled assassin - soon to be an agent of MI6 - and they're off on a multi-country adventure. Before long Gabriel and Keller are lured to the site of a major bombing and Gabriel is 'killed' (wink wink) which might just lower the guard of the bad guys.

The story has a variety of interesting characters including a beautiful Russian agent who bedded the British Prime Minister - and was later sprung out of Russia by Gabriel;

Angry revenge-seeking Russians;

A cell of the Irish Republican Army (IRA);

A double-dealing Iranian;

A British mole; and so on.

There's an interesting rivalry between the heads of MI5 and MI6, who have to work together but willingly sabotage each other when things go awry.

During the course of the story the reader gets a seemingly authentic and fascinating peek into spycraft, running agents, exposing double agents, prying information out of people (Jack Bauer style) and more. This kind of thing is always fun to experience vicariously (well maybe not the torture).

This is a well-crafted, fast-paced story that kept my attention from the first page to the last. Highly recommended to fans of espionage thrillers.

Rating: 4 stars

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Leading up to and during World War II, some Jewish children in Europe were hidden with Christian families, or in convents, or in monasteries, or in churches, etc., to protect the youngsters from the Nazis. The idea was for Jewish survivors to retrieve the children after the war. Author Jennifer Rosner, who did extensive research on the subject, and interviewed many people, addresses this topic in her fiction book 'Once We Were Home.' I heard Rosner speak about her novel, and she emphasized the difficult situations that sometimes arose from secreting Jewish children (which only saved a tiny percentage of Jewish kids, by the way). Some 'foster parents' came to love the children as their own and vice versa; some church organizations baptized the children and refused to return them; some Jewish kids came to think of themselves as Christian; etc. For the decimated Jewish population, getting these children back after the war was of paramount importance. Jewish survivors would use bribes, payoffs, lawsuits, or even kidnapping to bring the kids home. Some children were reunited with European families, and some were taken to Israel, to live on kibbutzim. Rosner, who has a Ph.D. in philosophy, observes there wasn't always a 'right thing to do,' as shown in this novel. ***** There are several 'displaced' characters in 'Once We Were Home.' Roger: During World War II, Roger is a smart, inquisitive French schoolboy living in the Convent Sainte Marie de Sion. Roger likes to write stories; enjoys sharing jokes and riddles with his best friend Henri; goes to prayer services morning and evening; attends the convent school; and has a favorite teacher, Sister Brigitte, who encourages Roger to ask questions. Roger's sponsor, a woman named Madame Mercier, tells Roger his Jewish parents took the 'wrong road' and arranges for the boy to be baptized. Roger doesn't comprehend what the 'wrong road' is and wonders about his Jewish family. When World War II is over, Roger's aunt wants him back. The church, determined to save Roger's soul, sends him on the run with a monk, who takes Roger over the snowy mountains (on foot) to Spain. Meanwhile, Roger's aunt petitions the church and the courts again and again and again......

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Barb's Book Reviews

Friday, July 29, 2016

Review of "The English Spy: A Gabriel Allon Thriller" by Daniel Silva

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