Prince of Fire

Gabriel Allon, Book 5

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Guerin Barry

Few recent thriller writers have elicited the kind of critical praise that Daniel Silva has received, with his "provocative and deeply satisfying" ( The Miami Herald) novels featuring art restorer and sometime spy Gabriel Allon, "a man whose depth and passion make him one of the most fascinating characters in the genre" ( Chicago Sun-Times)

Now Allon is back in Venice, when a terrible explosion in Rome leads to a disturbing personal revelation: the existence of a dossier in terrorist hands that strips away his secrets, lays bare his history. Hastily recalled home to Israel, drawn once more into the heart of a service he had once forsaken, Allon finds himself stalking an elusive master terrorist across a landscape drenched with generations of blood, the trail turning on itself until, finally, he can no longer be certain who is stalking whom.

And when at last the showdown comes, it will not be Gabriel alone who is threatened with destruction - for it is not his history alone that has been laid bare.

A knife-edged thriller of astonishing intricacy and feeling, filled with exhilarating prose, this is Daniel Silva's finest novel yet.

Take another thrill ride with Gabriel Allon.©2005 Daniel Silva (P)2005 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"In a story that seems ripped from the headlines, Silva delivers both chilling suspense and a thoughtful if grim history lesson." ( Booklist)
"[A] a passionate, intelligently crafted entry that cements the series' place among today's top spy fiction." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Guerin Barry skillfully juggles the many accents, even personifying the late Yassir Arafat with wit and energy." ( AudioFile)

Great story, sub par narration.

This was a good story, but compared to the other titles in this series I found the narration to be a little monotone and the Hebrew and other language pronunciations to be pretty bad. Still enjoyable overall though!!

Gabriel Allon's Bittersweet Revenge

What made the experience of listening to Prince of Fire the most enjoyable?

Silva's Gabriel Allon has been a solid character throughout the entire series--I've read them all to this point--and seems as much like an old friend as a deadly spy/art restorer might be. This time, it is not just vengeance for the nation, but vengeance of his own losses. The story is well told and fast paced.

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

No, but this one was excellent.

Any additional comments?

I wouldn't start with this one, since so much of the backstory of the series is revealed here and might ruin enjoyment of other, earlier books.

One of my favorite series

Can’t wait for next in series storyline excellent character depth twist and turns in storyline keeps me guessing.

Very historical, story not as captivating as last book.

Took awhile to get into it. Very good though. Just liked his last one more.

Narrator detracts

If you could sum up Prince of Fire in three words, what would they be?

Gripping, as usual.

Did Guerin Barry do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The narration was the weakest part of the audiobook. The main character, Gabriel, was voiced slightly hoarse and almost monotonal. It seemed such a bad characterization that getting immersed in the book was very difficult. The characters were switched in some dialogue and the pronunciation of Hebrew names was amazingly bad.

Good despite lack of past tenses,mispronunciations

It is hard to go wrong with a Silva novel. His intensity, correlation with history, and continuing story line make most listens compelling. I didn't realize that I had missed this one in the lineage of his books, and found it wanting. Not because of the story line, but because of the annoying narration.

I have come to know the characters as familiar, as Silva does such an excellent job in fleshing them out. However, when this narrator pronounces their names entirely differently, it is unsettling. It is hard for me to grasp how such an accomplished writer as Silva could momentarily forget the correct past tenses of most verbs ("spring, sprang, sprung", etc.), so I have to believe it was the narrator who furnished the tense most comfortable, even if incorrect, to him. He also put the emphasis on wrong words in the story, completely changing the meaning of many sentences. Somehow, Gabriel wasn't Gabriel when voiced by this narrator.

But, for everyone who loves Silva books, it is still a necessary listen, even though occasionally a grating one. Good story, bad narration and characterization.

very good.

I enjoyed it very much it catch me from the first lines. lots of details. there is a clue in every paragraph. the audio quality is excellent.

Loved the first-hand Palestinian narratives

As a Jew with a confused identity, i appreciated the Palestinian side of the story, about which I knew enough to confirm the veracity of Silvia’s account, albeit from the mouths of fictional characters. Silva explains through the characters and the postscript why he supports the Israeli position, at least as it was in 2006.

A Revealing Story of Israel/Palestine

The UN Decision was to give 80% of Palestine be the Transjordan.
The remaining 20% was divided between the Jews and the Arabs.
The Jews got a slice of coastal land and the Negev Desert for their 500,000 people surviving the genocide of Hitler and Stalin (more than six million dead) as a place of refuge from atrocity.
Included in their land were 400,000 Palestinian Arabs many of whom continued an antisemitic pogram.
Some of these were forced to leave the Jewish portion of this sliver of land.
AND THIS IS THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION FOR WHICH THE STATE OF ISRAEL IS CRITICIZED BY FRIENDLY STATES? AND FOR THIS THREATENED WITH EXTERMINATION BY THE MILLIONS OF ARABS IN SURROUNDING STATES?
Interesting book that presented a perspective on the Middle East.

performer only ok

the performer needs to study the pronunciation of words in German and especially Hebrew.
otherwise a well done reading