The English Girl

Gabriel Allon, Book 13

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Daniel Silva delivers another spectacular thriller starring Gabriel Allon, The English Girl. When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime minister’s career is threatened with destruction. Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, is thrust into a game of shadows where nothing is what it seems...and where the only thing more dangerous than his enemies might be the truth.…

Silva’s work has captured the imagination of millions worldwide; his number-one New York Times best-selling series, which chronicles the adventures of art-restorer and master spy Gabriel Allon, has earned the praise of listeners and reviewers everywhere. This captivating new pause-resister from the undisputed master of spy fiction is sure to thrill new and old fans alike.

©2013 Daniel Silva (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Gabriel's story takes huge strides

Gabriel Allon is finally aging, and finally realizing his human limitations. This story moves him around the board, and promises to change his career and family life. It is a great deal to accomplish in one book. The shows, as usual, an unwilling Gabriel called into action. But somehow he appears more human in this. By teaming up with former enemies who showed themselves to be as good as he was, he improves what the author tantalizingly alludes to as perhaps his last "secret" assassination assignment. All of Silva's books are excellent. It is interesting that he is allowing his protagonist to age and perhaps mellow. It will be interesting to see how far he carries that drift in subsequent books.

An Exceptional Spy

I stumbled upon the Gabriel Allon series, and it quickly became one of my favorite series in a long while. The English Girl is one of the best in the series. It combines international intrigue with politics and scandal, steering clear of predictable outcomes. Without giving away plot points, it deals with the very believable difficulties in investigating a time sensitive crime with serious political implications and high level officials helping or hindering the investigation. How did these criminals find out about the political scandal when no one else knew? Nothing is as it seems. While each of Daniel Silva's books are self-contained enough to be read by anyone looking for a good book, there is a great advantage of reading them in order. Silva rarely discards ingenious or unique characters he introduces into his books. They become part of the Gabriel Allon universe and pop up in future books in unexpected ways (the Pope and a Corsican fortuneteller are some of the more notable reoccurring characters). Silva doesn't give away too much of the action of earlier books, but there are Allon related life events (good and bad) that are referenced that are big plot spoilers if you plan on reading the earlier books in the future. From his striking green eyes to his incredible memory to his insight on espionage and terrorism, Israeli intelligence operative Gabriel Allon is extraordinary in all ways almost to a fault. He is a reluctant assassin with the heart and skills of a painter, haunted by personal tragedy. His talent shines so bright in the series that almost all other reoccurring characters pale in comparison. Unfortunately, Silva nearly cut and pastes his descriptions of some of the characters from book to book, they are so similar. Having been so enamored with the series, I read the majority of them back to back. Some of the characters seem to have so much potential for expansion (notably analyst Dina Sarid) that a stock description is a disappointment. Silva writes that Gabriel's love Chiara has "riotous hair", a remarkable description that catches attention when you first read it, but Silva uses it in multiple books. I'd like to hear more about her. It's hard to balance character development and keep a good pace in a thriller. Therefore, most of the character focus goes deservedly to Gabriel.

Awesome book, made me go and read the earlier ones

This book, number 13 in a series, was the first 1 I listened to. It was so good that I've gone back and started with the first book and am working my way forward.

The characters as well written. The story is action packed. I didn't want to stop listening.

The reader, George Guidall, was excellent. He even got the Hebrew names pronounced correctly.

I highly recommend this book and this series.

Excellent as always.

Always a thrilling ride, just when you think it’s figured out, there is a twist. Having been to Israel many times it was great knowing all the locations in the book b

enjoyable story

the story starts slowly, but around chapter 15 the story picks up and becomes a quick read. Yes, it's wrote buying

Always a good read

Good story. Excellent and my favorite reader. I on to the next book in the series!

Will buy every Daniel Silva book that comes out!

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

Yes. Because Gabriel Alon and the gang is so amazing. Every adventure gets better. This series never gets boring, and Daniel Silva is one of the best writers of this genre. I feel totally entertained when I'm finished reading one of his books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gabriel, of course.

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

Yes. This is one of his better characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Keep them coming Mr. Silva. You make some of us very happy to receive your stories.

Classiest Assassin

Gabriel Allon is the best. I love every Silva book as much as the last. They are all so well written and by now I feel I am part of the team. Hopefully they keep sucking Gabriel back in.

Excellent story. Much less predicable.

The past few Silva books have somewhat formulaic. This one was unpredictable and fresh. I loved it

Fascinating spy story

Very interesting and contemporary story of international intrigue. Excellent performance by the reader, George Guidall.