The Kill Artist

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Tightly written thrillers like The Marching Season have made best-selling novelist Daniel Silva a favorite of readers everywhere. In The Kill Artist, he paints an absorbing portrait of a reluctant hero’s attempt to thwart an old enemy to preserve a precarious peace.

After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.

Filled with vivid action and a fascinating cast of supporting characters, The Kill Artist delivers pulse-pounding suspense, carried to a startling climax by the tension-packed narration of George Guidall.

©2000 Daniel Silva (P)2001 Recorded Books

Interesting Good listening

Enjoyed the reader and his voices. Good story to follow. I hope you enjoy it

Page turner

There was always another twist coming. Some I guessed, most were surprises. I appreciated hearing about real people and real events from different sides. The characters were real to me, and the women were strong.

Excellent start to a great espionage series!

Before releasing The Kill Artist and thus beginning the great 15 novel Gabriel Allon series in the year 2000 Daniel Silva, an ex journalist, released three earlier novels.

The Kill Artist begins after a car bomb planted by a terrorist kills Gabriel Allon's young son and nearly kills his wife, leaving her a physical and mental/emotional invalid who must be institutionalized for the rest of her life. Allon has two occupations: The top art restorer in the world and the top assassin for a secret Israeli security organization known only as The Office. In the Kill Artist Allon and The Office seek to bring the man who destroyed the lives of Allon's family in Vienna to justice.

Protagonists in great espionage thrillers are all different. Gabriel Allon is the most reluctant. On a "humanity scale" Allon is the must human in terms of emotion and reluctance to kill. On the other end of the scale would be British author Tom Wood's Victor the Assassin who is totally devoid of humanity.

All of the Gabriel Allon novels are excellent (4 or more star), but they are not all consistently 5 star. Part of that is due to inconsistent narration. George Guidall narrates The Kill Artist as well as all of the series beginning with book 12. Guidall is wonderful. Books 2 - 11 used 4 different narrators some of whom are not nearly as good as Guidall.

Book 16 of the Gabriel Allon series, The Black Widow, is now available for pre-order at Audible.

I highly recommend The Kill Artist and all of Daniel Silva's novels in the Gabriel Allon series without reservation to all who enjoy great espionage thriller series.

Difficult to follow...

Maybe it was just me, but I had trouble following the story. have to really push myself to finish it. this was a new offer for me and wanted to give it a try. narrator was good.

Good characters and writing. Story up and down.

Parts of this book are really engaging, and others drag along. It is the first in the series. I downloaded the next and will review it.

Gifted Reader

Guidall makes the book come alive. Give him an author with talent and he excells.

Great book great narration

I have listened to all of the Mitch Rapp series most is narrated by George Guidall he is perfect for this type of book. The story sets up the characters very well. This is a book that ends in a twist that I didn't see coming. If you like the mystery espionage type of books this is a must read. I am looking forward to reading "listening " to the next book in this series.

First in the Series

I have been reading Gabriel Allon books for several years now. They are my favorite. This is the first time I have gone back to the beginning to read the first book in the series. It did not disappoint - great book and narration by George Guidall is perfect as usual. If you are a fan of this series but never went back to read the first book, you should. You will not be disappointed.

Opening shot in Allon series

The Allon series begins here, and the first book brings in the characters we follow throughout the series, and we see a significant part of their history.
Not as refined as some of Silva’s work, but it’s worth the read.
There are some oddities as Silva tries to blend fact and fiction. For example Arafat is named and features in plot, but no other actual participant in the peace process.
Overall, the story is entertaining, and will hold engagement.

Enjoyed narration and story

I did not want to stop listening to this wonderfully narrated book. The series is now on my must read list. What a gifted narrator. #spy#clever#mysterious#globetrotting#greatnarration#tagsgiving#sweepstake