Messenger, The [Import] [Paperback]

Daniel Silva (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Penguin; Export e. edition (July 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141030518
• ISBN-13: 978-0141030517
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,000,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

He has been called his generation's finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest American spy novelists ever. Compelling, passionate, haunting, brilliant: these are the words that have been used to describe the work of #1 New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Silva.

Silva burst onto the scene in 1997 with his electrifying bestselling debut, The Unlikely Spy, a novel of love and deception set around the Allied invasion of France in World War II. His second and third novels, The Mark of the Assassin and The Marching Season, were also instant New York Times bestsellers and starred two of Silva's most memorable characters: CIA officer Michael Osbourne and international hit man Jean-Paul Delaroche. But it was Silva's fourth novel, The Kill Artist, which would alter the course of his career. The novel featured a character described as one of the most memorable and compelling in contemporary fiction, the art restorer and sometime Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon, and though Silva did not realize it at the time, Gabriel's adventures had only just begun. Gabriel Allon appears in Silva's next nine novels, each one more successful than the last: The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, and Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, and The Defector. Silva's forthcoming novel, The Rembrandt Affair, will be published on July 20, 2010.

Silva knew from a very early age that he wanted to become a writer, but his first profession would be journalism. Born in Michigan, raised and educated in California, he was pursuing a master's degree in international relations when he received a temporary job offer from United Press International to help cover the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Later that year Silva abandoned his studies and joined UPI fulltime, working first in San Francisco, then on the foreign desk in Washington, and finally as Middle East correspondent in Cairo and the Persian Gulf. In 1987, while covering the Iran-Iraq war, he met NBC Today National Correspondent Jamie Gangel and they were married later that year. Silva returned to Washington and went to work for CNN and became Executive Producer of its talk show unit including shows like Crossfire, Capital Gang and Reliable Sources.

In 1995 he confessed to Jamie that his true ambition was to be a novelist. With her support and encouragement he secretly began work on the manuscript that would eventually become the instant bestseller The Unlikely Spy. He left CNN in 1997 after the book's successful publication and began writing full time. Since then all of Silva's books have been New York Times and international bestsellers. His books have been translated in to more than 25 languages and are published around the world. Silva continues to reside in Washington with his wife and teenage twins Lily and Nicholas. When not writing he can usually be found roaming the stacks of the Georgetown University library, where he does much of the research for his books. He is currently at work on a new Gabriel Allon novel and warmly thanks all those friends and loyal readers who have helped to make the series such an amazing success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the bunch..., October 3, 2006

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Messenger (Hardcover)

The Messenger by Daniel Silva is the most recent in his Gabriel Allon series, and I think it is the best of the bunch.

The Messenger opens in London where a professor of Middle Eastern studies is suspected of having Al-Qaeda ties. The Israeli Secret Service is on his tail when he is killed in an accident. The laptop he was carrying proves that not only was he a recruiter, but that he also was involved in an intricate plot against the Vatican.

Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is once again sent out into the field, trying to avert a tragedy in Rome. At the same time, the agency decides to find the source of terrorist funding through Saudi sources. The Israelis and the CIA concoct an intricate plot to discover the location of a Saudi terrorist financier. The plot involves a beautiful American art curator and an unknown Van Gogh painting.

The Messenger is such a good book in that Silva ties in so many things that are happening today. Al-Qaeda is planning terrorist acts, Saudis are financing the terrorists and can't be touched by the Americans, and the Americans are involved in covert and sometimes illegal operations. The plot of The Messenger is fast-paced and exciting, and it's one of Silva's strongest efforts yet. While Gabriel Allon still plays a major role in The Messenger, Sarah Bancroft (the American art expert who infiltrates a terror group) steals the show.

I have read all of Silva's Allon books except the first one, The Kill Artist, which I just obtained. While it might help to read them in order, it is not as critical as in some other series.

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Jihad without end.", July 29, 2006

By 

E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Messenger (Hardcover)

In Daniel Silva's "The Messenger," Ari Shamron, special advisor to the Israeli prime minister on security and intelligence, once again lures art restorer (and master spy) Gabriel Allon out of retirement. However, before Allon can decide whether or not he wants the job that Shamron offers him, two deadly terror attacks change both men's priorities.

Adrian Carter, acting as an intermediary for the President of the United States, urges Allon to "run an agent" into the inner circle of Saudi billionaire Abdul Aziz al-Bakari. Al-Bakari, also known as "Zizi," is a well-known supporter of Ahmed bin Shafiq, the mastermind behind a number of bombings that have taken the lives of many of the Western "infidels" whom he despises. The person chosen to get close to Zizi is Sarah Bancroft, a beautiful art historian and curator. Sarah's bait will be a previously undiscovered Van Gogh that she will offer to Zizi, an ardent collector with a fondness for Impressionists. Allon hopes that, with Sarah's assistance, he will be able to find and eliminate not only Zizi, but also his close friend, bin Shafiq. However, Gabriel's plans hit some unanticipated snags, placing both the intelligence operation and Sarah's life in grave danger.

"The Messenger" is another timely and entertaining novel from the talented Silva, who writes knowledgeably about the volatile political, economic, and military situation in the Middle East. As usual, the author has done his homework. The narrative is filled with engrossing and realistic details about art, spying, and the endless conflict between the world's democracies and the Islamic extremists who oppose them. Although the story's conclusion feels a bit rushed, Silva redeems himself with his crisp dialogue, exciting action sequences, and fine descriptive writing. "The Messenger" is an absorbing and thoughtful spy thriller that is extremely relevant in today's age of global terrorism.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Latest Gabriel Allon thriller shows the terror of going undercover, February 27, 2007

By 

Scott Schiefelbein (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Messenger (Hardcover)

Daniel Silva's series of thrillers featuring Israeli assassin/world-class Renaissance painting restorer Gabriel Allon continues to amaze. Now into his sixth book, Allon is starting to leave behind more pedestrian thriller-heroes and join the ranks of the elite (such as Lee Child's fantastic anti-hero, Jack Reacher).

Allon, who at the behest of Golda Meir once killed six of the members of Black September who led the attack at the Munich Olympics, is aging. His mentor, Shamron, is sick. The Prime Minister wants to replace Shamron with Allon, which would mean that Allon's field days are over.

This is a logical step for Allon, who is indeed getting on in years. But since it would be the death of the series, Silva creates a meaningful reason for Allon to keep Allon in the field - a terrorist attack in the heart of the Vatican that nearly kills the Pope. Remember, this is a Pope whose life Allon has saved, and Allon is in the Vatican at the time of the attack. As a result, Allon gets personally involved in tracking down the terrorists responsible.

This leads to an in-depth examination of what Silva terms as "Jihad, Inc." One of Saudi Arabia's richest men heads a global empire of high finance and terrorism. With an army of lawyers and well-funded academics (not to mention soldiers), the Saudi billionaire Zizi funds terrorist operations as he and his family sail the seven seas in the finest luxury. Allon decides that he must get an agent inside Jihad, Inc.

To that end, he recruits Sarah, a perfect American candidate. Sarah's training is handled perfectly by Silva, as is the ruse Allon uses to insert her into Zizi's lair - the discovery of Vincent Van Gogh's last painting. Silva keeps the tension building, and building, and building, as Sarah enters Zizi's lair, with Allon always watching from a discreet distance. Sarah's problem is that this short distance gives Zizi enough time to have Sarah eliminated any time he wants, if he discovers the truth. In an novel with a pretty high body count, the reader knows that Zizi's discovery of Sarah is always just a slip of the lip away.

Silva is one of our finest thriller-writers today, and for the most part, "The Messenger" does not disappoint. The ending in the Vatican is a bit anti-climactic, given what has already gone on in the novel. But this four-star rating is probably more due to the heights Silva has reached in the other Gabriel Allon novels. This is a must-read for any fan of Silva or Gabriel Allon, and if you haven't read any of these novels yet, grab a copy of "The Kill Artist" and dive in.