Book Review - The Fallen Angel

The Fallen Angel

By: Daniel Silva
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publishing Date: July 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-207312-9
Reviewed by: Mary Lignor
Review Date: August 2012

This latest book in the Gabriel Allon Series by Daniel Silva is another adventure in the world of a secret spy for the Israeli government. Gabriel, who pays his rent by being a restorer of fine art is now working on a masterpiece by Caravaggio at the Vatican.

A curator in the antiquities division of the Vatican has fallen to her death in St. Peter’s Basilica and Gabriel has been asked to take on the task of finding out if she jumped or was pushed. Gabriel has tried many times to get away from the Israeli Intelligence Service, but like the Godfather, everytime he thinks he has escaped, they pull him back. He is asked by the Pope’s Private Secretary to look into the death and see what he can find out. How do you say no to the Pope? On top of everything else, the Pope wants it done discreetly!!

Gabriel discovers that the curator was investigating some of the origins of the Vatican’s antiques and had made some headway into some underhanded deals that would put someone into a great deal of trouble if he/she was discovered. Gabriel, his wife and his cohorts from the Intelligence branch of the Israeli government are on the trail of the culprits that include a criminal who is married to a friend of Gabriel’s and that makes it a little bit dicey for all the investigators.

This plot will seem familiar to all of Silva’s avid readers of Allon books as Gabriel is dragged into a plot with his team of experts again. You’d like to tell him that if he wants to get away from spying, he just has to change his name and move to another country and even then, probably wouldn’t get away. The story moves about from Italy, to France, to Germany and back again with an older Gabriel who is still sharp as a tack and a man who you would definitely want on your side in a fight. Silva's books are snatched off the shelves in droves and fans wait impatiently for the next one. My very favorite is his first book The Unlikely Spy. I would very much like to see another book in that genre from Silva. It was and is fantastic.

Quill Says: I’ll say again, a great story with expert writing, plotting and characterization. Allon, and his creator Daniel Silva, are supermen with super brains and it seems that Gabriel's past will come back to haunt him for many books to come.