The English Assassin

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Israeli art restorer and occasional secret agent Gabriel Allon has a problem. A prominent Swiss banker has called him to Switzerland to restore his Raphael. The problem is that Allon finds the banker dead in front of his Raphael, and he's the prime suspect. After some diplomatic intervention, Allon is freed. However, the banker's daughter, wracked by guilt, tells him that her father's cache of French Impressionist paintings, acquired under dubious circumstances during the Second World War, has been stolen by the murderers. Once Allon knows about the banker's wartime misdeeds, he attracts the attention of a secret Swiss organization dedicated to suppressing knowledge of all such crimes, and he is pursued by a shadowy killer known only as "the Englishman."

©2002 Daniel Silva (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

Great story, performance not so much

Only my second Silva novel, but the story was every bit as good as the first. Unfortunately, the narration really hurt the experience for me.

The narrator was good at many of the European accents, especially German, but since some primary characters are Israeli I thought the story really suffered because the narrator kept imbuing their voices with a German twinge.

Excellent book, poor narrator

This is the second Gabriel Allon book of Daniel Silva's I've read, and even though I liked the storyline in this one better, the listen was not as enjoyable. John Lee seems to get his accents mixed up and it is often difficult to distinguish which characters are talking. His reading is the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars.

I'm hooked on the Gabriel Allon series. One other reviewer said they didn't like the finish, but I liked it, found it very poignant, and had tears in my eyes at the end. I agree that I would have liked to have a little more detail in the wrapping up, but all in all a good novel. I listened every chance I got...couldn't put it down.

Unfortunately the next 2 Gabriel Allon books in the series are also narrated by John Lee, but the books are so good, I'm willing to put up with the weird narration. Hopefully his accents will not be too mixed up in the next one.

Wow. What a story.

Even better than the first book. I like that the author fleshes out his characters. Excellent plot and surprises along the way.

This is going to be a great series for me.

I like a series where you can watch the growth of the characters. This is a great read and I will purchase the rest of the series.

No matter the narrator these books are a must...

Along with Orphan X, Will Trent, and Cormoran Strike, Gabriel Alon is in the top 4 of my automatic downloads. The stories from all these characters do not disappoint and I won't miss one! This is how I give a listen a 5 star rating by comparing to these guys, very few make the cut.

Really enjoyed this one.

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

I especially like stories where the authors mixes in some fact with the fiction and doing so in a way where the reader can't always tell where the line is between them.

What other book might you compare The English Assassin to and why?

Oliver North's books are ones to compare the fact mixed in with the fiction. The story of the covert operative compares with Mitch Rapp and John Wells.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is my first time listening to John Lee and I was very pleased. I especially like listening to George Guidall and listened to the ones in this series that he read first. While I was hoping the Mr. Guidall would be the one narrating the entire series, I wanted to listen to this book because I like the authors story. I will end up starting the next book in the series tomorrow and look forward to listening to Mr. Lee again. When I first started the book I did a double take thinking that maybe Mr. Lee was really Sean Connery, whom I really like too. The Sean Connery voice is that of the story narrator, the voice telling the story in between the voices of the various characters.

This series is spellbinding! Excellent.

This series is, in my opinion Daniel Silva’s best work. It has been several years since I first read the books, in print & Kindle but now I am being totally entertained by Audible edition. What a story to hear as one drives thru the hills & dales of America. Narration by John Lee, perfect!

an ok listen

I felt this book was a struggle to finish. it seemed to me the author was paid by the word and included as much fluff as he could. I felt there were too many things included in the story that did not advance either the plot nor the development of any mail character. I was disappointed at the ending.

Another roller coaster ride!

This is an earlier Gabriel Allon novel that I recently found. As a previous review stated there is some minor and brief skipping. I enjoy the narrator and the different voices he gives to the characters. Once again the author takes us on a ride of many twists and turns as he once again is on the hunt for stolen art work. I hope that Daniel Silva goes on writing for many years to come.

Who is talking?

The reader never uses distinctive accents so much of the time you questioned who was talking. I have listened to later works and the readers are excellent. Not this guy!!