Too long. Removal of repetitious content from previous books in the series and tightening up the action would help. ( )

Too long. Removal of repetitious content from previous books in the series and tightening up the action would help. ( )

Great story to follow-up Moscow Rules.
The most violent and evil in the series so far. ( )

Israeli spy/assassin Gabriel Allon is living quietly in Italy with his wife Chiara, retired from the Israeli intelligence service in all but name. When a Russian spy, Grigori Bulganov, whom he helped smuggle out of Russia in an earlier book in the series (Moscow Rules) goes missing from his London home, the British assume he was a double agent all along, while the Israelis think he's been kidnapped by the Russian oligarch whose downfall was orchestrated by Gabriel and Gregori. The Israelis draft Gabriel into investigating and rescuing Grigori if needed.

Silva's plots are always very intricate and meticulously detailed, and that along with the characterization of Gabriel and some of the other regular characters are the highlights of this series for me. The downsides are the extreme graphic violence and the quick use of torture to extract information even though it's been proven that in reality the information obtained in this way is often bogus (a lesson the US learned much, much too late, if indeed it actually has). In Gabriel's world, torture always works and it's always the first resort, not the last. Gross.

So I don't love those aspects of the plot at all, and I'm tempted to give the rest of the series a pass except that I own several of the upcoming books. It will be a while before I feel moved to pick another one up, though. ( )

Well, it's more or less the same formula as previous books in the series - buildup, elaborate plot that almost works, Allon gets caught and almost dies, he miraculously escapes, and retribution is swift and just.

But in spite of this formula, I still enjoy reading the books, and this was no exception. ( )