Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon) (Hardcover)

by Daniel Silva (Author)
Key Phrases: Château de la Messardière, Ivan Kharkov, Elena Kharkov, Boris Ostrovsky (more...)

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: A Conversation with Author Daniel Silva

Question: In 2008, you released #1 New York Times bestseller Moscow Rules, a book everyone was talking about. Now you've written the much-anticipated sequel. Tell us a little about The Defector.

Danile Silva: The Defector is my twelfth novel and the ninth to feature my hero, the enigmatic art restorer and Israeli assassin Gabriel Allon. As you might expect, a writer forms an attachment to all his books-in a way, they're a bit like children-but I'm especially excited about The Defector because it's not only a thriller but a love story. Just to bring readers up to date, in the last installment of the series, Gabriel brought down one of the world's most dangerous men: the ruthless Russian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. But even the great Gabriel Allon makes mistakes once in a while, and in the case of Ivan, his mistake was leaving him alive. There's a wonderful quotation from Machiavelli that I use as the epigram for the novel: "If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared." Gabriel would have been wise to heed that advice. He didn't, of course. And in The Defector, Ivan Kharkov is out for revenge.

Q: Did I hear you correctly? A man who's been described as one of the top American spy novelists of all time has written a love story?

DS: It's true. A heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat, and sometimes extremely violent love story, but a love story nonetheless. I feel as if I've developed a real bond with my readers, and I've learned something extremely valuable from them. While they're captivated by Gabriel's adventures, they also follow his personal trials and misfortunes very carefully-especially my female readers. Gabriel has had a complicated history with women, to say the least, but I've discovered that many of my female readers have a bit of a crush on him. Frankly, I'm a bit surprised by this. He's moody, clinically shy, and prone to periods of melancholia. But he's also a very intriguing and attractive character.

Q: In fact, Gabriel's personal life plays an important role in the way The Defector unfolds.

DS: It really does. As the story opens, he's returned to an isolated villa in the hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with Chiara and to restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his world is once again thrown into turmoil when he learns that Grigori Bulganov, The Defector and former Russian intelligence officer who saved his life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace from a busy street in London. British intelligence is convinced Grigori was a double agent all along, but Gabriel's masters in Tel Aviv have another opinion. They suspect Bulganov has been abducted by Ivan Kharkov. And they're convinced Gabriel is next on Ivan's list. Gabriel is confronted by a stark choice. He can return to Israel and go into hiding, or he can try to keep a promise he made to Grigori the night of their dramatic escape from Russia. He chooses the second option-after all, he is Gabriel Allon-and, as you might imagine, Chiara isn't terribly pleased. Without giving away too much of the plot, the decision will prove to be the most fateful of Gabriel's long career, and his life will never be the same again.

Q: As you mentioned, women like Gabriel Allon, and Daniel Silva clearly likes writing female characters. In fact, the storyline is dominated by a series of very intriguing, very compelling women.

DS:: That's true. And each of the remarkable women portrayed in the novel have a huge impact on the way the story is finally resolved. In real life I'm surrounded by strong women-anyone who's met my wife knows that-so it's only natural for me to cast women in heroic roles.

Q: As with all your books, The Defector moves briskly across a broad canvas: Moscow, Geneva, Paris, Lake Como, Saint-Tropez, and a place you poetically refer to as "the Russian city sometimes referred to as London." Why is London so central to your story?

DS: In short, because London now finds itself on the front lines of this new Cold War between Russia and the West. You might find this surprising, but some two hundred thousand Russians make their home in metropolitan London these days. Those Russians include exiled billionaires and dissidents along with several hundred Russian intelligence agents. By all accounts, MI5, the British Security Service, was caught flatfooted by the recent surge of Russian espionage activity in London. And with good reason. For the past several years, the overwhelming majority of MI5's resources have been focused on the fight against Islamic terrorism. Now they've had to redirect many of those assets toward the Russians. I'm afraid they have little choice. The murder of a real-life defector and dissident named Alexander Litvinenko proved that the Kremlin is willing to use violence when it wants to make a point. Read the entire interview [PDF]

--This text refers to the 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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 433 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition/First Printing edition (July 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399155015
• ISBN-13: 978-0399155017
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (111 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,612 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 8 in The Gabriel Allon Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I hoped for something more, July 25, 2008

By	T. Kunikov (United States) - See all my reviews

Being a former Soviet I had high hopes for this book as I am used to the large amount of research Daniel Silva usually goes through for his novels. Having read most, if not all, of the Gabriel Allon series, and, at the same time, having read about some of the operations described in Silva's books (operation Wrath of God, etc) I was looking for an accurate assessment of today's Russia. Sadly, while the story was good enough and moved at the usual pace that Allon novels do, I was very much let down by the author/editors of this book in a variety of ways.

First, the Russian newspaper represented in the book is entitled "Moskovsky Gazeta", it should be "Moskovskaya Gazeta." The character Olga Sukhova has a grandfather with the same last name, Sukhova. Sukhova is the feminine form, if it is a man, it should have been Sukhov. I also noticed that the AK-47 is purported to have been one of the reasons the Soviets won against the Germans. I could only interpret this as a reference to WWII, yet, the AK-47 was not developed until after WWII. These are just a few of the errors I found, there weren't many more, but they did take away from the usual interest I have when delving into the world the author is trying to create.

The major "mistakes" that I noticed, and to a degree, one might not be a mistake per se but rather something I do not agree with the author on. Russian journalists feature highly in this book and to a large degree there have been a large number of journalists killed, from a variety of causes. Yet, I cannot agree that all the journalists killed, Silva claims 14 have died during Putin's time as President, died because of the work they have been doing (be it against the government or a government agency). In truth, few have been killed in such a way as to raise suspicion that they might have died under "professional" hands. Others have been made to seem that way for a variety of propaganda purposes. What I vehemently disagree with the author on is the idea that a character like Ivan Kharkov, a gun runner and former KGB operative, could be one and the same and an oligarch to boot. The oligarch's in today's Russia (and of the 90's) are not former KGB (Berezhovsky, Gusinsky, Abramovich, Khodorkovsky, Smolensky, Luzhkov, Chubais, etc) but they do have former KGB and spetsnaz forces as their security. These men made their money through banks, speculation, natural resources (gas, oil, etc), TV channels, real estate, etc. I'm more than sure that all of them took illegal steps in one way or another, but that is the natural order of things in capitalism.

Lastly, I resent the fact that just because Russia is using her resources as a bargaining chip means she wants to become a super power once more. Russia has a sphere of influence just like the US does, their actions in foreign policy are dictated by self interest just like every other country in this world. While it is true that they helped arm the Middle East during the cold war when the Soviet Union was in existence it was the US that helped arm Islamic extremists the world over (especially those who flooded Afghanisan during the 80's to take up the war against the USSR, this of course doesn't take into account all the other covert operations undertaken by the US). I am not here to preach if what either country did/does is right or wrong, I just hate seeing a double standard at work.

My apologies if this review didn't cover the book as others have, I figure they did a good enough job and there was little I could add as to what the book was about/encompasses. But I do feel that what I mentioned above will take away from the usual accuracy Silva tries to delivery in his books. Russians can and want to live normal lives, otherwise how do you explain the millions living around the world? But it won't happen so soon in a nation which has been around for less than two decades and has been living off of perverted capitalistic ideals that the west helped usher in.

65 of 87 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

By	Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

(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

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best 'Daniel Silva' To Date, July 29, 2008

By	eb (Sherman Oaks, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews

Having read (and enjoyed) all of Mr. Silva's previous novels, I found 'Moscow Rules' to be the best book he's written. The characters, story, plot twists, dialogue, descriptions and locations all came together to make this a truly outstanding read.

I especially liked the author's take on Moscow. He captured the essence of the city and Russia in a way few others have. That, as well as the rest of the book, made it one of the best novels in recent years.