The English Assassin

Author - Daniel Silva ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Putnam Adult was reviewed on 4-Nov-2008.

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1) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. Good beginning and was somewhat interesting until the last 70 pages, then it went downhill and stayed there all the way thru the last page. If you like an ending where you can close the book and smile, then this is not the book for you. This was one of his earlier books written in 2002 and I guess he had not yet developed his ability to put it all together as he did in The Messenger written in 2006. It seemed like he was pressed for time and just decided to end it. Certainly not one of his best thrillers, just a mundane spy story.¤

2) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. This is one of my favorite Silva thrillers, primarily because of the subterfuge, chase, revelation, and respect between Silva´s hero Gabriel Allon and the antagonist of this book, the English Assassin, who seems to serve as Allon´s alter ego. The Englishman is a former British-government trained special ops soldier, now turned mercenary. The back-and-forth in scene and plot when Allon´s and the Englishman´s paths crisscross as they pursue their mutual targets reminded me of the chivalric rivalries between knights of disparate standards. You still get the same dependable, richly drawn Allon, but you have an added bonus of the Englishman´s character, who draws on the reader´s empathy as well.
As always, we are witness to fabulous settings and Allon´s deep cultural angst leading to integrity and heroism. Don´t pass this one by.
A Genie in the House of Saud: Zubis Rises¤

3) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. KF Zuzulo is the author of A Genie in the House of Saud: Zubis Rises

This is one of my favorite Silva thrillers, primarily because of the subterfuge, chase, revelation, and respect between Silva´s hero Gabriel Allon and the antagonist of this book, the English Assassin, who seems to serve as Allon´s alter ego. The Englishman is a former British-government trained special ops soldier, now turned mercenary. The back-and-forth in scene and plot when Allon´s and the Englishman´s paths crisscross as they pursue their mutual targets reminded me of the chivalric rivalries between knights of disparate standards. You still get the same dependable, richly drawn Allon, but you have an added bonus of the Englishman´s character, who draws on the reader´s empathy as well.
As always, we are witness to fabulous settings and Allon´s deep cultural angst leading to integrity and heroism. Don´t pass this one by.¤

4) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. Silva´s Gabriel Allon books are a surefire success, but not as good as some of his other books. Not because the Allon books are bad; but because the other books are usually a little better. In any case, this worthy thriller takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of Europe with Allon seeking to right the massive wrong of art thefts from Jews during WWII. In so doing, Silva takes a big swipe at the role of Switzerland in fencing the stolen by the Nazis. It´s an interesting foray into a world that few people knew about till recent years -- at least the extent to which the Swiss may or may not have been culpable. So, in addition to getting a history lesson, the reader gets a competent thriller involving a fairly well defined hero in Gabriel Allon. In my estimation, any book by Silva is a winner, and this neatly meets that standard.¤

5) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. How Swiss bankers and financiers (the Gnomes) financed the German war effort during World War II, prolonged the war, and profitted from the looting of Jewish accounts and art collections becomes the focus of Silva´s fifth novel, the second to feature Gabriel Allon. Here Allon, an art restorer who has also worked as an assassin for Israeli Intelligence, is called to Zurich to restore a Raphael painting, only to discover the owner of the painting, Augustus Rolfe, dead upon his arrival. Further investigation reveals that Rolfe, a banker, also hid a large art collection in his basement vault, though it has now vanished.

As Allon comes to know Rolfe´s violinist daughter Anna, he must avoid the Swiss police, who are dedicated to preserving bank secrecy laws and the appearance of propriety even as they aid in the hiding of Jewish artifacts. In league with a secret Swiss cabal which will stop at nothing to preserve their own ill-gotten gains, the police also believe that Anna may know more than she lets on. A second plot, which eventually ties in with the main plot, features "the English Assassin," who works for a don in Corsica who is planning a major assassination. As the plot twists from Zurich to Germany, Portugal, France, England, and Corsica, Allon and the English Assassin come closer to a showdown.

Based on facts about Swiss banking and its laws, which guarantee secrecy and allow Nazi plunder to be owned by Swiss citizens if they "acquired it in good faith," the novel allows the author to personalize Swiss abuses and weave them into his novel. Though the plot is a bit difficult to follow, at times, since the exact connection with the English Assassin is not clear for much of the novel, it moves quickly and bloodily forward, filled with violence, beatings, torture, and murder. The villains are truly villainous, and the good guys, if not virtuous, are at least "honorable" in intention and ruled by good motives.

Unfortunately, the novel is too broad to allow for much character development, and the movement throughout Europe prevents a sense of place and atmosphere from developing. Switzerland, though the main location, is shown selectively through negative elements which advance the plot. The climax, when it occurs, is not the blockbuster one would expect. Rather, it is more a fizzling out of details as the novel comes to a conclusion, though not necessarily a resolution. Silva is a terrific thriller writer, but this is not his most thrilling novel. n Mary Whipple

A Death in Vienna
Prince of Fire
The Marching Season
¤

6) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. The Unlikely Spy, Daniel Silva´s extraordinary debut novel, was applauded by critics as it rocketed onto national bestseller lists. "Briskly suspenseful, tightly constructed . . . reminiscent of John le Carré´s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," said The New York Times. "Silva has clearly done his homework, mixing fact and fiction to delicious effect and building tension-with the breathtaking double and triple turns of plot-like a seasoned pro," praised People.

Now Silva has outdone himself, with a taut, lightning-paced thriller rooted assuredly in fact: Switzerland´s shameful WWII record of profiteering and collaboration with Nazi Germany. When art restorer and occasional Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is sent to Zurich, Switzerland, to restore the painting of a reclusive millionaire banker, he arrives to find his would-be employer murdered at the foot of his Raphael. A secret collection of priceless, illicitly gained Impressionist masterpieces is missing. Gabriel´s handlers step out of the shadows to admit the truth-the collector had been silenced-and Gabriel is put back in the high-stakes spy game, battling wits with the rogue assassin he helped to train.

Tense, taut, expertly crafted, and brimming with unexpected reversals, The English Assassin is Daniel Silva at his storytelling best.¤

7) Hardcover Book The English Assassin by Putnam Adult. The English Assassin brings back Gabriel Allon, the appealingly melancholy art restorer with a double life as an Israeli secret agent, first introduced in 2000´s The Kill Artist. Gabriel is sent to Zurich under a pseudonym to restore a Raphael belonging to a prominent Swiss banker and art collector, Augustus Rolfe, but upon arriving he finds Rolfe lying in a pool of blood. When Gabriel tries to leave Zurich, the Swiss police capture him immediately--and moreover, they know his real identity. He´s released through some diplomatic string-pulling, but he soon discovers that Rolfe had requested a meeting with Israeli intelligence, for reasons unknown, just before his death.

Rolfe´s daughter, Anna, is a world-class violinist attempting to rebuild her career after an accident that nearly destroyed one of her hands. But her physical scars are nothing compared to those on her psyche, left by her mother´s suicide when Anna was a teenager. Temperamental and mistrustful, she nevertheless believes Gabriel´s story, and reveals that Rolfe owned a secret collection of priceless French Impressionist paintings, apparently stolen by his murderers.

As Gabriel begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle, he faces two adversaries: a powerful group of men who would do anything to bury the past forever, and a hired killer who´s planning a spectacular murder. Like The Kill Artist, The English Assassin balances fascinating characters, authentic-sounding historical detail, and plenty of glamorous international intrigue on the edge of a knife-keen plot. --Barrie Trinkle¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 2-Dec-2008, , 030-380-800-810-V7B-CEB-B8B-PAB-BIB-8

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