• The Secret Servant

  • Gabriel Allon, Book 7
  • By: Daniel Silva
  • Narrated by: Phil Gigante
  • Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,516 ratings)

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The Secret Servant  By  cover art

The Secret Servant

By: Daniel Silva
Narrated by: Phil Gigante
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Publisher's summary

When last we encountered Gabriel Allon, the master art restorer and sometime officer of Israeli intelligence, he had just prevailed in his blood-soaked duel with Saudi terrorist financier Zizi al-Bakari. Now Gabriel is summoned once more by his masters to undertake what appears to be a routine assignment: travel to Amsterdam to purge the archives of a murdered Dutch terrorism analyst who also happened to be an asset of Israeli intelligence.

But once in Amsterdam, Gabriel soon discovers a conspiracy of terror festering in the city's Islamic underground, a plot that is about to explode on the other side of the English Channel, in the middle of London.

The target of this plot is Elizabeth Halton, the daughter of the American ambassador to the Court of St. James', who is to be brutally kidnapped. Gabriel arrives seconds too late to save her. And by revealing his face to the plot's masterminds, his fate is sealed as well.

Drawn once more into the service of American intelligence, Gabriel hurls himself into a desperate search for the missing woman as the clock ticks steadily toward the hour of her execution. It will take him from Amsterdam to Germany to the very end of Denmark. It will thrust him into an unlikely alliance with a man who has lost everything because of his devotion to Islam. It will cause him to question the morality of the tactics of his trade. And it might very well cost him his life.

Spy guy: listen to more of Gabriel Allon's exploits.
©2007 Daniel Silva (P)2007 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"Bestseller Silva's superlative seventh novel to feature Gabriel Allon, the legendary but wayward son of Israeli Intelligence, puts Silva squarely atop the spy thriller heap." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Phil Gigante does a fine job with an international cast of characters....He also reads the narrative with clarity and verve." ( AudioFile)

What listeners say about The Secret Servant

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,581
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    24
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    7

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the very best

I have been reading thriller spy books since I read my first James Bond in 1962. While I am by no means an expert, I have read most of the really good ones over the years and lots of very bad ones. I started reading Daniel Silva 2 years ago. I have generally liked his work but he truly captured me with his Isreal spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon. Allon and his mentor Ari Shamron of the Isreali secret service are a great team. Allon appears in at least 8 Audible books and they are all good.

The Secret Servant is not just good it is one of the best I have read over these many years. There are enough plot turns and twists to satisfy even the most demanding thriller fan. The good guys are good but always with a trace of bad. The bad guys are bad but don't fully fit that mold either. Lots of killing and other bad stuff but intermixed is some of the most thoughtful discussion of the Isreal/Palestine conflict I have seen in a long time. The discussion is almost philosophical at times but compliments the action and makes you think about both sides of a very complicated issue, something most of us don't do very often. The book has at least three satisfying conclusions and leaves you wanting a fourth. This is in my judgment one of the best thrillers ever written. The narration is excellent.

This book leaves you wanting Silva to write another Allon adventure and he did. I am now reading Moscow Rules and it is shaping up to be another great one. I am sure any of Allon adventures could be read in any order but I would advise starting with the Prince of Fire, then The Messenger and then to Secret Servant. There are earlier books also but these three seem to form a nice trilogy.

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60 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Skip this book but not he series

I am sure Mr Silva worked very hard on this book and it is probably very discouraging to see it RUINED by a poor narrator. Mr. Gigante just does not have the voice range to pull this book off. He does an ok sounding Scandinavian accent but the rest have no differentiation.
To the publisher: QUIT WASTING MR. SILVA'S TIME AND TALENT, just PLEASE get decent narrators to do his books.....PLEASE!!!!!
To the listener: Skip this series to the books narrated by George Guidall.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent spy novel!

As I await the new release from Ben Coes in three days, I'm listening again to some older espionage novels from some of the best authors of the genre. The Secret Servant is the 7th novel in the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva. It is an excellent novel, but it is not one of Silva's best. Allon is working of the kidnapping in London of the adult daughter of the US ambassador to the UK. In doing so he works with both US and British intelligence agencies.

Silva's first Gabriel Allon audio novel was narrated by George Guidall. Novels 2 -10 in the series including this one were narrated by lesser narrators until Simon Vance narrated #11. All novels since #11 have been narrated by Guidall.

Novel #17 in the Allon series titled House of Spies will be released on July 11, 2017. It will be narrated by Guidall.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

The Best I've Read in Thirty Years

I have been looking to get back to my beloved spy fiction genre. I cannot stand the Ludlum ghost writing and other tricks of the yarn. I downloaded the Prince of Fire first because a reviewer recommended it as the starting book. I have been hooked ever since.
The Secret Servant is one of the very best spy novels Ihave ever read or listened to. I am so hooked on Daniel Silva and his Gabriel Allon that I cannot wait to download Moscow Rules. I have become a begin Silva fan. His amazing treatment of the Arab Israeli conflict and the Middle east is very nuanced and insightful. The complxity of the issues fills the many plot twists and moves the narrative at a fast pace.
I highly recommend this book as part three. But I suggest you start at the Prince of Fire and then The Messenger. You will not be disappointed.


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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Mindless fun, will listen to others

What did you like best about The Secret Servant? What did you like least?

The story kept moving along. No stagnant portions.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Was satisfying in a somewhat expected fashion

Did Phil Gigante do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Good narration

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

Probably on cable

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

A little too predictable.

Perhaps I should listen again to this one, because I had trouble liking the hero and became uninterested in the ending. Sometimes this happens when I am not listening close enough to a book.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrater is terrible!!

I am very unhappy with this narrator. He cannot pronounce Jewish names.. Calls Alie Lavon "Ali" as in Mohammed, etc. Very distracting. I will have to read this one on Kindle. Sigh. Voice is too gravely and deep also. ICK

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Another Great Book from Silva!

Another exciting adventure for Mr. Allon and his team. I didn't mind the narrator this time because the story was so engaging. It's a little violent but so are most espionage's. I am such a fan and I hope Silva writes several more thrilling adventures involving these characters. Enjoy!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Painfully-narrated dialogue

Terrible narration. He did okay on the exposition, but the dialogue was ridiculous and painful. I don't know why they keep switching actors for this series, but i hope this was his only appearance.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

exciting, continued twists and turns

This is a good followup story in this series. As usual the authors clean and clear descriptions of the geography allows you to feel like you are there. The geopolitical message continues to be relevent encased into an exciting story.

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4 people found this helpful