Melinda

My feline-like curiousity causes the more pragmatic side of me to be apprehensive about jumping into series...that addicitve anticipation --- the inevitable Iet down. So, I do very few series. Daniel Silva has caught my wandering eye for years now, I've had more than a few in my Wish List. I was about to just go for it...download The Rembrandt Affair, when The Fallen Angel grabbed my attention. I've jumped in mid-series before: James Lee Burke, Lee Childs, Karin Slaughter...without regret (of course, in these stellar cases that meant I got to go back and do some enjoyable catching up.) Wonderful writers have that ability to write a greatly structured novel each time, eliminating the need to read the books chronologically. I can't speak to Silva's previous works (yet), but if the writing, the atmosphere, the interesting global locations, the clever multiple plot-lines, the sophistication and tautness in those previous Gabriel Allon novels is anywhere close to Fallen Angel (the 12th? in a series) -- I'm in, and downloading 11 books right away.

Gabriel Allon is called out of retirement ("again" I keep reading) to investigate the murder of the Vatican's antiquities curator, whose body is found splatted on the Basilica floor...did she jump or was she pushed? Allon's covert investigation will take him to the underbelly of the stolen antiquities black market, from the mob to possibly the worst imaginable terrorists - Hezbollah - and to a massive global plot that could ignite armageddon.

Some research on Silva, a former UPI and CNN journalist, explained that Silva visits each location he uses in his novels (and that he is one of former Pres. Clinton's favorite authors). That explains the perfect scenic staging that creates such atmosphere. His global experience and vivid attention to detail made this a believable and tense read. Guidall, if you've read any of my reviews, is a favorite, a polished professional that adds to any project in which he is involved. In the the words of a another *review-buddy*: I'm late to the party, but so glad to arrive!

Awful--shockingly, embarrassingly, discouragingly devoid of creativity and talent, and the narrator's histrionic reading was akin to listening to nails scraping across a chalkboard. Disgusted with the rote and threadbare story, and protecting my ears from the whining and screeching of the narrator, I was compelled to keep my finger on the skip-ahead button most of the time. Seeing that a publisher actually saw potential enough to committ to a trilogy, I concluded there must be something here, it would be safe to take a chance...it would be safer to run blindfolded through a zombie infested graveyard at night. Ashes is absolutely one of the worst books I've ever read (or almost read) and THE worst audio I have ever listened to. Miss Kellgren--some heartfelt advice: do not use this for an audition tape.