The Messenger (Paperback)

by Daniel Silva (Author)
Key Phrases: Holy Father, Sarah Bancroft, Swiss Guard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Product Description
The #1 national bestseller from the author of Prince of Fire

On the trail of a deadly al-Qaeda operative, Gabriel Allon returns in a spellbinding story of deception, power, and revenge by the New York Times bestselling "world-class practitioner of spy fiction" (Washington Post).

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]

From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Silva continues to warrant comparisons to John le Carré, as shown by his latest thriller starring Israeli art restorer and spymaster Gabriel Allon. Ahmed bin Shafiq, a former chief of a clandestine Saudi intelligence unit, targets the Vatican for attack, in particular Pope Paul VII and his top aide, Monsignor Luigi Donati, who both appeared in Silva's previous novel, Prince of Fire. Shafiq, who now heads his own terrorist network, is allied with a militant Islamic Saudi businessman known as Zizi, a true believer committed to the destruction of all infidels. Gabriel's challenge is to infiltrate Zizi's organization, a task he assigns to a beautiful American art expert, Sarah Bancroft. Gabriel promises he'll protect her, but plans go awry, and by the end Sarah faces torture and death. While Sarah's fate is never in doubt, the way Silva resolves his plot will keep readers right where he wants them: on the edges of their seats.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Signet (July 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451221729
• ISBN-13: 978-0451221728
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,621 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 6 in The Gabriel Allon Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

39 of 43 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 (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chilling Thriller, ripped from today's headlines!, July 26, 2006

By	Paul Wiscamp - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Messenger (Hardcover)

Silva delivers again in another gritty tightly plotted thriller! A bomb blast in St. Peters' Square leaves hundreds dead and the Pope badly injured. The Basilica is a smoking pile of rubble. Weeks prior a member of Al-Qaeda was killed in a traffic accident, in the deadman's briefcase are surveillance photos of the Vatican. How does this all tie into the recent tragedy? That is up Gabriel Allon master art historian/restorer and sometimes spy. Silva spins an engrossing spy novel that is intelligent and tragic yet also filled with plenty of action, political intrigue, and some great plot twists. This was a one night read for me, which is pretty rare anymore, so if you don't have to get up early tomorrow then buy this book!