• The Defector

  • Gabriel Allon, Book 9
  • By: Daniel Silva
  • Narrated by: Phil Gigante
  • Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,600 ratings)

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The Defector  By  cover art

The Defector

By: Daniel Silva
Narrated by: Phil Gigante
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Publisher's summary

Over the course of a remarkable career, Daniel Silva has established himself as one of the world's finest writers of international intrigue, a craftsman worthy of comparison to John le Carré and Graham Greene. His latest bestseller, Moscow Rules, was not only superior entertainment, but a prescient cautionary tale about the emergence of the New Russia. Now he takes that tale to the next level.

Six months after the blood-soaked conclusion of Moscow Rules, Allon is in Umbria, trying to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, when a colleague pays him a shocking visit. The man who saved Allon's life in Moscow and was then resettled in England has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, and they blame Allon for planting him. To discover the truth and clear his name, Allon must go immediately to London - a decision that will prove to be the most fateful of his career.

In the British capital, he finds himself once more on the front lines of the secret war between East and West, where Russian spies and dissidents engage in the old game of cat and mouse. There, Allon uncovers a much greater conspiracy, a plot by an old enemy to resurrect a network of death, to bring the world to the precipice of a new confrontation, and in order to stop it, he must risk everything: his ties to an organization he has served since his youth, his new marriage . . . even his life.

©2009 Daniel Silva (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

The Defector is more than the most explosive thriller of the summer. It is a searing tale of love, vengeance, and courage created by the writer whom the critics call "the perfect guide to the dangerous forces shaping our world" ( Orlando Sentinel)

What listeners say about The Defector

Average customer ratings
Overall
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Performance
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Paul

Excellent audiobook with a fine vocal performance from Phil Gigante. In this continuing series of Gabriel Allon, we finally get to see his dark side, and dark it is indeed. The story crosses the usual assortment of countries and brings back all the previous characters in the series.

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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

cliffhanger at the end???

I like Silva a lot. I like this book. The end made me angry. This isn't a mini-series where I get to see the rest tomorrow. If the story takes 2 books, make it 1 long book... please.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

The Defector

Phil Gigante's pronunciation of Hebrew words was so inaccurate, I was astonished at the translation that followed. A reader must take the time to learn how to pronounce the foreign words in every book he reads. It makes the story telling much more satisfying.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

frustrated

As far as it went this is excellent book with gripping action and suspense throughout, makes you want to hear what comes next but the ending is in the middle of a thought like the Sopranos, and leaves you hanging. You must buy the next book to know what happens. this feels like the way to make more money - even though the choice belongs to the listener. I won't be buying the next one as I am offended by this ploy.

If it is not a ploy and I as the listener am to guess at the ending I won't be buying the next one because I don't like to guess, thank you. I have been cheated.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The narration killed it

For openers, stories to typical it’s getting interesting point. It might’ve even been a great lesson. It’s probably a good book to read. The narrator is horrible, he makes it sound like dialogue from the 1960s by moving

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Modern day thriller

An excellent example of the post cold war era spy thriller. Good character development and almost believable scenarios. Tension is held and builds to a strong conclusion. An entertaining read.

A word of caution though: this is a sequel to "Moscow Rules". The entire plot and outcome of Moscow Rules is retold as part of the development of this novel. So, once you have read The Defector you will not be able to go back to Moscow Rules, so read it first.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Dan Silva is a great writer -- but not his best

Gabriel Elon is one of the most interesting thriller heros -- a brilliant art restorer and a brilliant Mossad assassin. In this book, Silva seems to be just going down his list of bad guys -- Nazi torturers, Arab terrorists, Drug Cartels, and now Russian KGB/Mafia. I think that the next novel will have to address U.S. Skinheads, but Gabriel is running out of relatives to be kidnapped by bad guys. Nonetheless, the plot moves along well and Phil Gigante does a good job of dramatizing the book. I actually like his accents (except for the southern lilt of the CIA agent). The plot is complicated and Silva has to pull the fat out of the fire at the end with a "deus ex machina" that is less than satisfying. But...I still love Silva and Gabriel and cannot wait for the next one -- hoping it will be a little more polished than this one that seemed to be rushed out for the summer reading season.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Way too much flashback!!

This was a very disappointing Daniel Silva book as he spent half the book retelling scenes from former books. It could have been half as long and would have been much better.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

I don't get it,

The critic's note and the other critiques here just don't jive. The author doesn't put you IN the book. It more like a narrator reading from a script while you try to visualize what is going on. The plot was excellent and story line good. It was just not exciting. There was a lot of murder and violence without suspense. The way it ended.... It ended right in the middle of the action. I went back and re-read the last part of the book twice to make sure I didn't miss anything trying to figure out why it ended where it did.

If you want to picture someone standing at a podium, reading from a script, this is for you.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

What a waste of time!

Won't read Silva again. His characters have become cartoonish, and his plots repetitive and increasingly hackneyed. Descriptions ever more violent and unpleasant. The narrator did his best and was excellent but despite fine narration, the book was not worth the time or effort.

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5 people found this helpful