The Kill Artist

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Jason Culp

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Gabriel Allon had a simple but brutal job: he tracked down and eliminated Israel's terrorist enemies. But when his wife and son fell victim to the danger that accompanied him everywhere, Gabriel quit and devoted himself to the world of art restoration, an occupation that had previously been a cover for his secret assignments. Now Ari Shamron, the head of Israeli intelligence, needs Gabriel's particular kind of experience to thwart a Palestinian plot to destroy the peace negotiations in the Middle East. The architect of this plot, a Palestinian zealot named Tariq, is a lethal part of Gabriel's past, so as the two being an intercontinental game of hide-and-seek, with life and death as the prizes, the motives are as personal as they are political.

©2000 Daniel Silva (P)2000 Random House, Inc.

Always entertaining

This is an older story, and shorter. The reader does the voices well. Silva's stories are easy to follow while driving, unlike most spy stories, that are so complex and with so many foreign names that they are probably better enjoyed in book form. Daniel Silva is a master of the craft, and I have listened to all of his books.

a dated story

What did you like best about The Kill Artist? What did you like least?

I thought the main character was fascinating, but the story itself didn't keep my attention and devolved into a misanthropic blah.

Would you recommend The Kill Artist to your friends? Why or why not?

just not fresh enough to recommend.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

if it were updated to reflect more current trends in movie heroines, probably.

Boooooooring

I dont' know how this book got such great ratings. I had trouble paying attention to it as I thought the story line stagnant and uninteresting. The narrator was OK, nothing to write home about. I kept listening in the hopes something great would come of this but nothing ever did and I'm sorry I ever got this book.

Great spy thriller fun

Would you consider the audio edition of The Kill Artist to be better than the print version?

I do think the audio version would be better than print because of the voices and their different accents.

What other book might you compare The Kill Artist to and why?

All the other Silva Gabriel Allon books and also in a way, the Lee Child Jack Reacher series; both series are just enormous mindless fun to listen to.

Which character ??? as performed by Jason Culp ??? was your favorite?

Probably Shamron, I could honestly see him

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

The master assassin returns

Any additional comments?

I only recently read my first Allon book - and I have read four in the last month. They are a compelling if not very heavy read. Great for long car trips, the treadmill, etc.

Too bad this was a 16 year old novel.

Next time. I. will look more closely at the publish date. Spy novels have a short.life, especially this.one.

Not my cup of tea.

Filled with indistinguishable charachters for whom you build no affinity. Narrator is great, but this story is slow to develope, convoluted, and confusing. USe your credits elsewhere.

Very boring

I haven't read any of Silva's books before and I probably won't bother in the future. The characters were boring and the "hero" was not remotely interesting or engaging. I have been hooked many times with the first book in a series and couldn't wait to start the next one. Not here. At least it was fairly short.