The English Assassin (Mass Market Paperback)

~ Daniel Silva (Author) "HE SOMETIMES-SOLVENT firm of Isherwood Fine Arts had once occupied a piece of fine commercial property on stylish New Bond Street in Mayfair..." (more)
Key Phrases: exposition room, art restorer, looted art, Anna Rolfe, Augustus Rolfe, Gerhardt Peterson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
A master writer of espionage" (Cincinnati Enquirer), Daniel Silva makes his Signet debut with his most acclaimed novel to date... Framed for the murder of a millionaire banker, Israeli spy by trade and art restorer by preference, Gabriel Allon, will have to fight for his life-against an assassin he himself helped train.

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.

From Publishers Weekly

Switzerland's shameful behavior in WWII provides the backdrop for this superbly crafted thriller that puts Silva at the forefront of his generation of foreign intrigue specialists. Here, the former CNN correspondent also appears to have settled on a main character to propel his promising line Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and Israeli hit man who starred in last year's acclaimed The Kill Artist. Just a few pages into this sequel, Allon finds himself the apparent victim of a double cross. When he arrives to restore a Raphael owned by reclusive Swiss banker Augustus Rolfe, Allon not only discovers the banker dead but finds himself the number one suspect. The charge doesn't stick, however, and when he is released from custody, he vows to find out who tried to frame him. His first stop is Rolfe's daughter, Anna, one of the world's top violinists and a woman haunted by her family's heritage of wartime greed and cruelty. Allon catches the attention of Switzerland's secretive power structure, which intends to stymie any further investigation into Rolfe's murder and the theft of his suspiciously acquired art collection. The so-called Council of Rtli contracts with a shadowy hit man, known only as the Englishman, to eliminate Allon and anyone else who threatens to expose Switzerland's past. The action unfolds in tightly focused scenes played out across a spectrum of European capitals and more pastoral settings. As a historical framework, the secrets of the Bahnhofstrasse are well-trod territory, yet Silva's sophisticated treatment polished prose, an edgy mood, convincing research gives his plot a crisp, almost urgent quality. Agent, Esther Newberg of ICM. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 national advertising campaign.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451208188
• ISBN-13: 978-0451208187
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,722 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Gabriel Allon Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Intriguing Historical Journey, August 5, 2002

By	Newt Gingrich (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews ("THE")

This review is from: The English Assassin (Hardcover)

When I first picked up The English Assassin, I almost did not buy it. I like Silva's earlier novels, but I did not like the level of violence described in the cover leaf. It sounded like a mindless adventure but not in the complex, intricate manner of Silva's earlier works.

I had underestimated Silva, or his publisher had misdescribed him. This is a delightful, deep tale of Swiss abuse of Nazi victims, a generation of Swiss cover-up to keep possession of the stolen goods, the Israeli effort to locate and track down the valuables from pre-World War II European Jews, and the level of violence some people will go to in order to keep what they have even if it was gained illicitly (or maybe even because it was gained illicitly).

Once you have entered the journey of the former Israeli agent turned art restorer and you have encountered the violence and mysteries which surround what should have been a simple trip to look at some art in need of repair, I think you will be as hooked as I was. The larger tale of what happened to Jewish and other goods during the Nazi era will also set you thinking and will put a human face to the stories several years ago of Swiss bank accounts and secrecy about the Second World War period.

This is a fascinating book and fully up to Silva's standards.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the wait was worth it, March 6, 2002

By	Jeanne (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The English Assassin (Hardcover)

My only problem with Daniel Silva is that he doesn't write books fast enough. The wait for The English Assassin, though, was more than worth it. Silva's a first-rate writer who has taken the well-worn concept of the international thriller and turned it into something compellingly new. The English Assassin is a perfect example of his skill: he throws together the reluctant, tormented spy Gabriel Allon with a tempermental violin virtuoso grappling with her own dark secrets and sends them off to investigate the Swiss collaboration with the Nazis in the theft of priceless art. It is an utterly fascinating story, brought to life with the help of a cast of superbly crafted supporting characters, including a vicious English assassin who is a bit more complex than your usual villain. Along the way Silva masterfully draws us into the worlds of art and music and gives us a tempting tour of some out-of-the-way European locales. I started The English Assassin the other night and finished it in one sitting. My only disappointment? It'll be another year before the new Silva pops up on the shelves.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The English Assassin is another page turner from Silva, March 29, 2002

By	Timothy J. Kindler (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The English Assassin (Hardcover)

The English Assassin is another fine novel. Daniel Silva provides the reader with his usual blend of action, excitement, intrigue, and plot twists -- all set within the historical context of the secret world of the Swiss banking system from WWII to the present. In a reprise of Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and sometimes Israeli spy from the Kill Artist, Silva spins a tale of a secret Swiss society, long-ago collaboration with Nazi Germany, and a quest to recover art treasures plundered by the Nazi's in WWII. Gabriel is drawn into the plot when he is sent to restore a painting belonging to an elderly Swiss banker. Finding the banker dead, Gabriel is quickly forced to match wits with the mysterious English Assassin and members of the clandestine Swiss organization that seeks to keep the past of Switzerland buried. This book is thoroughly entertaining. A must read for fans of Silva's previous works.