The Defector

Gabriel Allon, Book 9

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

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)

Moscow Rules and The Defector are Silva at his best

Two separate books equal one great Gabriel Allon tale. Each book can stand alone. But do yourself a favor and read them back to back. Up til now I thought nothing could rate as highly with me as A Death in Vienna. These two books taken together are every bit as excellent as "Vienna" and in completely different ways. No spoilers. Just trust me. If you enjoy Gabriel Allon books, I believe you'll find these three are the best of this excellent series
A note about the narrator. I find Phil Gigante's style, voice and accents far superior to that of George Guidall. Guidall's Allon sounds like a very old Shamrone. Indeed, regarding all the characters at times it's difficult to tell one voice from another. Odd since normally I like Mr Giudall reading absolutely any other books except this series. However, his narration has not stopped me buying any book in the series. Not terrible at all-just not my favorite of the two men. I have listened to several narrations by Phil Gigante of various authors/books and have never been disappointed. This is my personal preference. I see by other reviews many people prefer just the opposite!

Excellent book, narrator needs some work...

Daniel Silva's books are consistenty excellent and the characters are as real and vivid as ever. My only problem with this audio book was the narrator. Aside from the falsetto used for women's voices which was just irritating, the accents were HORRENDOUS. The Russians sounded like Germans... the Israeli's sounded like quasi-Russians... And the pronunciation was painful for both the russian and the hebrew words. I don't expect it to be perfect, but at least comprehensible. Blue and white in Hebrew is Kachol (Ka-Hol) Ve Lavan - narrator pronounced it Catch-all Velevan. There are many more terrible examples but this one aspect severaly impacted my listening pleasure. Perhaps, being a native speaker of all three languages makes me more sensitive to it but I think purchases should be aware nonetheless.

Gabriel Allon done masterfully

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The audio versions of these books bring a depth not found in simple readings, as the pronunciations of the phrases in various languages of the places and phrases is entertaining and enlightening- I recommend them to all of my friends who are fans of the written stories.

What did you like best about this story?

The performance and the writing were equally superb.

What about Phil Gigante’s performance did you like?

The heart and pathos that was communicated by Gigante was amazing, as was his command of the languages spoken.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A powerful and gripping experience of spycraft and the people that suffer in its grasp...

Great story!

Classic Silva! This is a great story and high highly recommend the book. Well performed also.

Recommended book

This book was full of twists and turns from the beginning to the end. I truly enjoyed listening to the story and regretted each time I had to stop. The story flowed beautifully and not only entertained but also gave some historical information. Daniel Silva is a very talented author and Phil Gigante did a great job portraying the characters.

An eye for an eye

If rules are abided by all parties even death and mayhem are transactional and there is no need for vengeance. By revenge is the greatest excuse of man to foment war and violence. Thence peace is never possible

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.

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.

Silva scores again

If you like the thriller genre, you will like Daniel Silva. His latest book, The Defector, is another winner. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat and has enough mini conclusions spread out to keep your interest to the very end. The Defectors is a follow up to Silva's last book,Moscow Rules and, while it isn't necessary to read first,it would help in setting the context for The Defector.

The way the current was needs to be fought

I really like the series. I've admired Israel since reading Exodus in the early 70's. As in all things, some do not feel the ends justify the means but the people of Israel can certainly make a very compelling argument in the affirmative.