Portrait of a Spy: A Novel [Audio CD]

Okay, here's the thing from a reviewer's viewpoint. You would probably not be reading the reviews of Daniel Silva's newest book in his Gabriel Allon spy series if you weren't already familiar with his writing. Silva's written 10 or so novels in the series and I think I've read most of them. And this one, "Portrait of a Spy" is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. But it is similar to all the others I've read. And for me, a reviewer, it's a difficult book to review for that reason.

Daniel Silva is deeply concerned with the Middle East and the problems with radical Islamism that have risen from there in the last 60 years or so. Silva uses his books - characters and plots - to speak intelligently about those problems and the repercussions - terrorist bombings in both the Middle East countries and in Europe. Silva seems to publish a new book in the series every July. Now, this year and this book, 2011 and "Portrait of a Spy", pose a fairly tricky problem for Daniel Silva. How much of the "Arab Spring" - which actually began in mid-December, 2010 - does he include in his story? And does he include the assassination of Bin Ladin, which occurred fairly close to the time of publication? I could tell that he makes reference to Bin Ladin's death in a line towards the end where the text could still be changed in final proofs. The "Arab Spring" is mentioned towards the end. That's the problem he may have faced with the plot. But it's with the characters he's really facing problems.

Gabriel Allon has not changed much in the 15 or so years he's been the subject of Daniel Silva's pen. And Chiara, his younger Italian wife is still gorgeous. They are still trying to retire to the English countryside and really go back to art restoration. But the Mossad is still trying to drag Gabriel back in to work on missions for them. Shomrom is still the aging lion of King Saul Boulevard, still hunting down the same Islamic terrorists. Other peripheral characters like English art dealers are still doing their selling and Israeli, British, and American agents are still doing their spycraft. In effect, not much has changed in the lives of Gabriel Allon and his cast of characters. I would love to see some further character development by Silva in next year's Allon book. Give him a kid - who is not killed in a terrorist attack. Let Chiara age a little and maybe become less gorgeous. Give her a haircut. Finally kill off Shomron, who seems to be a pain in everyone's side in Israeli intelligence.

So, why am I giving "Portrait" five stars, even with my silly complaints and comments? Because, it is a very good Daniel Silva/Gabriel Allon book. It gives the reader - who is usually well-acquainted with the characters and on-going plot line - another good read. And that's really the reason for a reviewer to write a review and for a reader to read one.

Gabriel Allon is on site and fails to stop a terrorist attack in London. He leaves his Cornish retirement to help a CIA ally eradicate the network that executed the attack, as well as the operational mastermind and inspiration of said network. Ultimately Gabriel lives and triumphs...which should surprise no one. Entertaining, somewhat engrossing, extremely well written, Portrait of a Spy was not all I hoped it would be. I can handle the Allon books being cookie cutter plots, but the books are so well written that I enjoy the ride even though. However, what begins as a really clever idea is not carried through by the author. Silva had the chance to break from the mold of the last few books and he chose not to.

On the cookie cutter front, we have the standard Allon associates-Shamron, Uri, the Allon Team, and now extended elements in the CIA and the world of broadcast news. We have world class bad guys with an agenda...but the new trick is that the bad guys will be found by routing funds to them with the help of the daughter of...a man Allon killed and who dies in the arms of the daughter Allon wants help from.

If there is a weakness in the Allon series, it may be how anyone who is asked feels compelled to help Allon, and in the course of working with/for him they come to see him as being wonderful...even here. No one comes away feeling used or bitter or in any way conflicted or angry. That is the opportunity Silva misses in Portrait of a Spy. As I rolled through the book-and it is quite easy reading-I kept waiting for that moment when the daughter would break bad on Gabriel, or maybe have her own agenda, or just do something so that we are moved for a time away from actions and movement based on international intrigue to something based in a more personal situation.

The book is entertaining and easy to read. For those who have not read an Allon novel this could well be a five star book. Even with the traditional/cookie cutter plot I would normally run it at four stars. However, this time Silva created characters and a situation where he could have gone in a different direction...and backed away. It is our loss as readers that Mr. Silva backed away from this opportunity to broaden his characters and milleu of the "Allon experience".

A general observation about the Allon series, and not about this book in particular...Gabriel is getting too old to reasonably be doing what he is doing. I thought this would be the novel where Mr. Silva heads Gabriel down a different track-another path he opted not to follow. Allon has to be about 60. He was recruited as an art student into the Sword of Gideon project puts him about age 20 in 1972, and that is an age/event that Silva has not run from (as Robert Parker did with Spenser's army service in the Korean era). Frankly, he cannot, as that experience tracking down the Munich 1972 terrorists is the foundation of and entryway into the Israeli intelligence service. Yet Allon is regularly doing things that would be problematic for a man half his age, from chasing down bad guys to intentionally taking beatings so as to get close to the bad guys. The same happens in this book. Silva needs to find a way to move Gabriel into situations where he is using his experience and not his body to make things happen-which btw would help get away from the cookie cutter thing.

In the eleventh thriller in the Gabriel Allon series, Silva has the art restorer/supposedly retired spy-assassin involved in a confrontation with the new face of global terror; a person who was once a paid CIA asset.

Typical in all books in this series, Allon and his team (involving most of the cast of characters that have appeared in previous books in the series) devise an intricate plan laden with risk to thwart the terrorist and his network from carrying out more devasting attacks across the globe. Also reminiscent of most books in this series, the plot in Silva's Portrait Of A Spy combines the worlds of art and intelligence in a way that seems that the stories are ripped from yesterday's newspaper headlines. And, of course, consistent in a Silva thriller, his latest book is one of slow-building but non-stop tension and suspense that will likely make the reader anxious to turn the pages to find out what happens next.

In the absolute, I enjoyed Portrait Of A Spy very much and consider it, as I have all of the other books featuring Gabriel Allon, to be engrossing, well-researched and well-written. However, on a comparative basis, my level of enjoyment has dropped a notch. In small part, this is due to the action that occurs being not quite as intense as in some of the other books in the series. The larger factor contributing to my comparative drop in enjoyment is that, after reading all eleven of the Gabriel Allon books, the successful formula on which Silva has based his series is "showing some superficial age lines" and the development of his main and key supporting characters need some refreshening. As such, I would not be disappointed if Silva's next book is a stand-alone.

Despite these comparative criticisms, I still consider Silva to be the "gold standard" of thriller writers. For me, there has never been a risk involved in reading a Silva book, with the only unknown being whether the book will be very good or excellent.