Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon) and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Acceptable See details
$20.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon Series)
 
See larger image
 
Start reading Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon Series) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Daniel Silva (Author), Phil Gigante (Reader)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover, Bargain Price $10.78  
Paperback, Large Print $12.47  
Mass Market Paperback $9.99  
Audio, CD, Abridged, Audiobook, CD $9.99  
Audio, Cassette, Audiobook, Unabridged --  
Multimedia CD, MP3 Audio --  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $22.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial

Book Description

Gabriel Allon Series July 22, 2008
Over the course of ten previous novels, Daniel Silva has established himself as one of the world’s finest writers of international intrigue and espionage— “a worthy successor to such legends as Frederick Forsyth and John le Carré” (Chicago Sun-Times)—and Gabriel Allon as “one of the most intriguing heroes of any thriller series” (The Philadelphia Inquirer). Now the death of a journalist leads Allon to Russia, where he finds that, in terms of spycraft, even he has something to learn. He’s playing by Moscow rules now. It is not the grim, gray Moscow of Soviet times but a new Moscow, awash in oil wealth and choked with bulletproof Bentleys. A Moscow where power resides once more behind the walls of the Kremlin and where critics of the ruling class are ruthlessly silenced. A Moscow where a new generation of Stalinists is plotting to reclaim an empire lost and to challenge the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States. One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel who built a global investment empire on the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hidden within that empire, however, is a more lucrative and deadly business. Kharkov is an arms dealer—and he is about to deliver Russia’s most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda. Unless Allon can learn the time and place of the delivery, the world will see the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11—and the clock is ticking fast. Filled with rich prose and breathtaking turns of plot, Moscow Rules is at once superior entertainment and a searing cautionary tale about the new threats rising to the East—and Silva’s finest novel yet.


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

Daniel silva has hit the top with his new gabriel allon novel...

A #1 New York Times bestseller!

The death of a journalist leads Israeli spy Gabriel Allon to Russia, where he finds that, in terms of spycraft, even he has something to learn if he wants to prevent a former KGB colonel from delivering Russia’s most sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda.

Amazon Exclusive Essay: Daniel Silva on Gabriel Allon and the "Accidental Series"

Writers tend to be solitary creatures. We toil alone for months on end, then, once a year, we emerge from our dens to publish a book. It can be a daunting experience, especially for someone like me, who is not gregarious and outgoing by nature. But there is one aspect of promotion I truly love: meeting my readers and answering their questions. During each stop on my book tour, I reserve the bulk of my time for a lively conversation with the audience. I learn much from these encounters-indeed, some of the comments are so insightful they take my breath away. There is one question I am asked each night without fail, and it remains my favorite: "How in the world did you ever think of Gabriel Allon?" The answer is complicated. In one sense, he was the result of a long, character-construction process. In another, he was a bolt from the blue. I'll try to explain.

In 1999, after publishing The Marching Season, the second book in the Michael Osbourne series, I decided it was time for a change. We were nearing the end of the Clinton administration, and the president was about to embark on a last-ditch effort to bring peace to the Middle East. I had the broad outlines of a story in mind: a retired Israeli assassin is summoned from retirement to track down a Palestinian terrorist bent on destroying the Oslo peace process. I thought long and hard before giving the Israeli a name. I wanted it to be biblical, like my own, and to be heavy with symbolism. I finally decided to name him after the archangel Gabriel. As for his family name, I chose something short and simple: Allon, which means "oak tree" in Hebrew. I liked the image it conveyed. Gabriel Allon: God's angel of vengeance, solid as an oak.

Gabriel's professional résumé-the operations he had carried out-came quickly. But what about his other side? What did he like to do in his spare time? What was his cover? I knew I wanted something distinct. Something memorable. Something that would, in many respects, be the dominant attribute of his character. I spent many frustrating days mulling over and rejecting possibilities. Then, while walking along one of Georgetown's famous redbrick sidewalks, my wife, Jamie, reminded me that we had a dinner date that evening at the home of David Bull, a man regarded as one of the finest art restorers in the world. I stopped dead in my tracks and raised my hands toward the heavens. Gabriel Allon was complete. He was going to be an art restorer, and a very good one at that.

Over my objections, the book was entitled The Kill Artist and it would go on to become a New York Times bestseller. It was not, however, supposed to be the first book in a long-running series. But once again, fate intervened. In 2000, after moving to G.P. Putnam & Sons, my new publishers asked me what I was working on. When I mumbled something about having whittled it down to two or three options, they offered their first piece of advice. They really didn't care what it was about, they just wanted one thing: Gabriel Allon.

I then spent the next several minutes listing all the reasons why Gabriel, now regarded as one of the most compelling and successful continuing characters in the mystery-thriller genre, should never appear in a second book. I had conceived him as a "one off" character, meaning he would be featured in one story and then ride into the sunset. I also thought he was too melancholy and withdrawn to build a series around, and, at nearly fifty years of age, perhaps a bit too old as well. My biggest concern, however, had to do with his nationality and religion. I thought there was far too much opposition to Israel in the world-and far too much raw anti-Semitism-for an Israeli continuing character ever to be successful in the long term.

My new publishers thought otherwise, and told me so. Because Gabriel lived in Europe and could pass as German or Italian, they believed he came across as more "international" than Israeli. But what they really liked was Gabriel's other job: art restoration. They found the two opposing sides of his character-destroyer and healer-fascinating. What's more, they believed he would stand alone on the literary landscape. There were lots of CIA officers running around saving the world, they argued, but no former Israeli assassins who spent their spare time restoring Bellini altarpieces.

The more they talked, the more I could see their point. I told them I had an idea for a story involving Nazi art looting during the Second World War and the scandalous activities of Swiss banks. "Write it with Gabriel Allon," they said, "and we promise it will be your biggest-selling book yet." Eventually, the book would be called The English Assassin, and, just as Putnam predicted, it sold twice as many copies as its predecessor. Oddly enough, when it came time to write the next book, I still wasn't convinced it should be another Gabriel novel. Though it seems difficult to imagine now, I actually conceived the plot of The Confessor without him in mind. Fortunately, my editor, Neil Nyren, saved me from myself. The book landed at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list and received some of the warmest reviews of my career. After that, a series was truly born.

I am often asked whether it is necessary to read the novels in sequence. The answer is no, but it probably doesn't hurt, either. For the record, the order of publication is The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, and Moscow Rules, my first #1 New York Times bestseller. The Defector pits Gabriel in a final, dramatic confrontation with the Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov, and I have been told it far surpasses anything that has come before it in the series. And to think that, if I'd had my way, only one Gabriel Allon book would have been written. I remain convinced, however, that had I set out in the beginning to create him as a continuing character, I would surely have failed. I have always believed in the power of serendipity. Art, like life, rarely goes according to plan. Gabriel Allon is proof of that.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Paul Gigante, who read Silva's Secret Servant, resumes his outstanding rendering of Gabriel Allon and his crew of Israeli counterterrorism experts. Once again, Gigante highlights Allon's strange blend of artist and assassin by giving him a quiet yet thoroughly persuasive voice. Gigante also deftly handles Silva's large, polyglot cast of arms dealers, terrorists, art dealers, wives, mistresses and even children. He does less well with the new Russian characters, Ivan and Elena, who speak with thick Russian accents, but use Anglicized pronunciations of their own names. Ivan sounds macho and threatening, but Elena is played with too much emotionalism, which detracts from the credibility of her decision to endanger her children and herself. Gigante's quick pace and narrative skill will keep listeners enthralled. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, May 26 ). (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

  • Audio Cassette
  • Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (July 22, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1423327969
  • ISBN-13: 978-1423327967
  • Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.1 x 2.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,661,697 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

146 Reviews
5 star:
 (76)
4 star:
 (45)
3 star:
 (14)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (6)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (146 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 105 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Moscow Rule: "Death solves all problems. No man, no problem, July 22, 2008
(4.5 stars) In his eighth Gabriel Allon espionage thriller, Daniel Silva moves from investigating the historical crimes of the past, often related to the Holocaust, and their effects on the present, to crimes of the present and their possibly catastrophic effects on the future. In this intense and absorbing novel about uncontrolled arms sales, the biggest threat to the future comes from Russian arms dealers, aided by Russia's president and former KGB operatives who are now unimaginably wealthy independent brokers and contractors. These arms merchants operate with impunity, selling all manner of weapons to terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East and Africa.

Gabriel Allon, formerly with the Israeli Mossad, is on his honeymoon in Italy when he is contacted by Ari Shamron, the grand old man of Israeli security. Allon, a trained art restorer, has been working for the Pope, but the recent assassination of a Russian journalist who may have had information he wanted to reveal to the West brings him out of retirement and back into action. When the murdered man's Russian editor-in-chief is also murdered, Allon travels to Russia, where he learns the name of a Russian arms dealer, Ivan Kharkov, who has been supplying Hezbollah, and who now appears close to selling sophisticated weapons to al-Quaeda.

Kharkov and his wife are collectors of Mary Cassatt paintings, and the fascinating art world which has added so much life to other Gabriel Allon thrillers in the past is also a major aspect of this novel. Art dealers, down-in-their-luck gentry who own prized artwork, and, in the case, of Allon, restorers, all play unexpectedly major roles in this effort to prevent Kharkov from selling advanced weapons to al-Quaeda. As the high-stakes plotting by the conjoined security services of England, the US, Italy, and France builds to a crescendo, Allon follows the action through various countries leaving multiple murders, beatings, car crashes, and betrayals in his wake. Always, the fine hand of the Russian mafia is pulling the strings, purportedly with the aid of the Russian president.

Silva keeps the action moving briskly, and his ability to convey the atmosphere of disparate locations adds depth and drama to the plot. The characters, even the minor ones, are paradigms of the countries they represent, imbued with the cultures of their homelands, rather than mere stereotypes. His major characters are complex and carefully drawn, and the action and underlying themes of the novel are intelligent and thought-provoking. As always, Silva creates a complex and exciting story, but this time the focus is on contemporary politics, rather than on the past. Providing evidence that future catastrophes are shockingly easy to inspire, given the venal nature of unscrupulous international arms dealers, Silva employs his formidable talents to create a terrifying picture of a cynical world--and a warning for the future. n Mary Whipple

The Marching Season: A Novel
The English Assassin
A Death in Vienna
Prince of Fire
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars I'll be sure to pick up more Silva..., April 11, 2009
By 
The middle book of my "Russia" trilogy (Child 44, this and then The Secret Life of Moscow), this happened to be my first Daniel Silva. While it follows a character--Gabriel--from his previous book and references some connections, characters and scenarios from it, I didn't find it difficult to follow Moscow Rules at all without having read the others.

Moscow Rules begins with Gabriel on holiday in Italy with his new wife. He's trying to get some downtime in after what was apparently a rather stressful experience from the last book, and is working diligently on restoring a painting for the Vatican. He gets an urgent call from his boss from the Israeli counter terrorism unit that a member of the much-oppressed Russian press has requested a meeting with Gabriel--and only Gabriel--to give him information about a possible impending attack on Israel and the U.S. They agree to meet, but the journalist is murdered before he can tell Gabriel anything, forcing Gabriel to travel to Russia to learn what the journalist died trying to tell him.

Although this is a spy novel, it's in no way a James Bond- or Jason Bourne-esque book--it's not about some superman taking down the world's biggest supervillians (or the world's biggest quasi-evil omnipresent secret government organizations, in the case of Bourne). It is a mystery thriller--although you learn fairly early on who the "villain" is, it takes most of the book to figure out what he's really planning--but Gabriel is no martial-arts gun-toting killing machine. It's much more a thinking man's game, and Gabriel is genuinely helped, not hindered, by his organization. The elaborate ruse set up to meet with the crime bosses' wife has that Thomas Crowne Affair/Ocean's Eleven type of feel to it, which I enjoy just as much as a good Bourne fight scene. Although I can't say how this book compares to his others, I can say it was entertaining enough to make me want to read more.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent Silva, August 10, 2008
There are abundant reviews that describe the story line, some in great detail; so that's covered. I would like to throw my hat on the side with those who view Moscow Rules as one of Silva's best to date. All are excellent, and I completely enjoy the Gabriel Allon series for multiple reasons, so perhaps I am biased at the outset. But I do believe that Silva spins a tale here that at least matches the intrigue, and suspense of the others. This book fosters the "I just couldn't put it down" reaction of his previous efforts.

What continues to amaze me is the obvious depth of knowledge that Silva possess about the ins and outs of the cities and towns, and countryside of Europe, and Isreal, and now two major cities in Russia. Such depth of knowedge adds solid foundation to his stories, and depth to the images of imagination.

This is yet another excellent Gabriel Allon series, and I do believe you will love it, start to finish.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 
(70)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
See all 4 discussions...  
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject