The Blurb (from Goodreads)
Gabriel Allon had a simple but brutal job: he tracked down and eliminated Israel's terrorist enemies. But when his wife and son fell victim to the danger that accompanied him everywhere, Gabriel quit and devoted himself to the work of art restoration, an occupation that had previously been a cover for his secret assignments. Now Ari Shamron, the head of Israeli intelligence, needs Gabriel's particular kind of experience to thwart a Palestinian plot to destroy the peace negotiations in the Middle East. The architect of this plot, a Palestinian zealot named Tariq, is a lethal part of Gabriel's past, so as the two begin an intercontinental game of hide-and-seek, with life and death as the prizes, the motives are as personal as they are political.
The story features a vivid and fascinating supporting cast, including the magus-like Ari Shamron, a beautiful French Jewish model who is seeking retribution for her family's death in the Holocaust, and a marvelously comic down-at-the-heels London art dealer. Set these colorful and varied characters against a brilliant background of political intrigue and vengeance at the highest levels and a manhunt that covers three continents, and the result is a smart and electrically exciting global thriller.
My Thoughts:
Flying to Adelaide for a week, I needed something small enough to fit in my handbag and absorbing enough to make the flight zoom by. I chose a spy thriller by Daniel Silva that has sat unread on my bookshelf for quite a long time. I’d read a great World War II thriller, The Unlikely Spy, by the same author and so thought I’d try his long-running Gabriel Allon series about an Israeli undercover agent who works as an art restorer. The Kill Artist is the first book in the series. I enjoyed it. Very cinematic, with lots of action, a little romance & a little bit about art too.
