The Defector

Gabriel Allon, Book 9

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Over the course of a remarkable career, Daniel Silva has established himself as one of the world's finest writers of international intrigue, a craftsman worthy of comparison to John le Carré and Graham Greene. His latest bestseller, Moscow Rules, was not only superior entertainment, but a prescient cautionary tale about the emergence of the New Russia. Now he takes that tale to the next level.

Six months after the blood-soaked conclusion of Moscow Rules, Allon is in Umbria, trying to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, when a colleague pays him a shocking visit. The man who saved Allon's life in Moscow and was then resettled in England has vanished without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double agent all along, and they blame Allon for planting him. To discover the truth and clear his name, Allon must go immediately to London - a decision that will prove to be the most fateful of his career.

In the British capital, he finds himself once more on the front lines of the secret war between East and West, where Russian spies and dissidents engage in the old game of cat and mouse. There, Allon uncovers a much greater conspiracy, a plot by an old enemy to resurrect a network of death, to bring the world to the precipice of a new confrontation, and in order to stop it, he must risk everything: his ties to an organization he has served since his youth, his new marriage . . . even his life.

©2009 Daniel Silva (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

The Defector is more than the most explosive thriller of the summer. It is a searing tale of love, vengeance, and courage created by the writer whom the critics call "the perfect guide to the dangerous forces shaping our world" ( Orlando Sentinel)

Fantastic!

Very good story with a great ending. I hope this won't be the last we hear of Gabrial Alon. All the main characters are in this book and made the story more engaging. You won't be disappointed.

Good Listen

Another riveting story by Daniel Silva! Loved it. I’m a big fan of the detail that he’s gone into with all aspects of the book.

Moscow Rules and The Defector are Silva at his best

Two separate books equal one great Gabriel Allon tale. Each book can stand alone. But do yourself a favor and read them back to back. Up til now I thought nothing could rate as highly with me as A Death in Vienna. These two books taken together are every bit as excellent as "Vienna" and in completely different ways. No spoilers. Just trust me. If you enjoy Gabriel Allon books, I believe you'll find these three are the best of this excellent series
A note about the narrator. I find Phil Gigante's style, voice and accents far superior to that of George Guidall. Guidall's Allon sounds like a very old Shamrone. Indeed, regarding all the characters at times it's difficult to tell one voice from another. Odd since normally I like Mr Giudall reading absolutely any other books except this series. However, his narration has not stopped me buying any book in the series. Not terrible at all-just not my favorite of the two men. I have listened to several narrations by Phil Gigante of various authors/books and have never been disappointed. This is my personal preference. I see by other reviews many people prefer just the opposite!

Excellent book, narrator needs some work...

Daniel Silva's books are consistenty excellent and the characters are as real and vivid as ever. My only problem with this audio book was the narrator. Aside from the falsetto used for women's voices which was just irritating, the accents were HORRENDOUS. The Russians sounded like Germans... the Israeli's sounded like quasi-Russians... And the pronunciation was painful for both the russian and the hebrew words. I don't expect it to be perfect, but at least comprehensible. Blue and white in Hebrew is Kachol (Ka-Hol) Ve Lavan - narrator pronounced it Catch-all Velevan. There are many more terrible examples but this one aspect severaly impacted my listening pleasure. Perhaps, being a native speaker of all three languages makes me more sensitive to it but I think purchases should be aware nonetheless.

Gabriel Allon done masterfully

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

The audio versions of these books bring a depth not found in simple readings, as the pronunciations of the phrases in various languages of the places and phrases is entertaining and enlightening- I recommend them to all of my friends who are fans of the written stories.

What did you like best about this story?

The performance and the writing were equally superb.

What about Phil Gigante’s performance did you like?

The heart and pathos that was communicated by Gigante was amazing, as was his command of the languages spoken.

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

A powerful and gripping experience of spycraft and the people that suffer in its grasp...

Great story!

Classic Silva! This is a great story and high highly recommend the book. Well performed also.

Recommended book

This book was full of twists and turns from the beginning to the end. I truly enjoyed listening to the story and regretted each time I had to stop. The story flowed beautifully and not only entertained but also gave some historical information. Daniel Silva is a very talented author and Phil Gigante did a great job portraying the characters.

An eye for an eye

If rules are abided by all parties even death and mayhem are transactional and there is no need for vengeance. By revenge is the greatest excuse of man to foment war and violence. Thence peace is never possible

I don't get it,

The critic's note and the other critiques here just don't jive. The author doesn't put you IN the book. It more like a narrator reading from a script while you try to visualize what is going on. The plot was excellent and story line good. It was just not exciting. There was a lot of murder and violence without suspense. The way it ended.... It ended right in the middle of the action. I went back and re-read the last part of the book twice to make sure I didn't miss anything trying to figure out why it ended where it did.

If you want to picture someone standing at a podium, reading from a script, this is for you.

pretty slow to listen to. voices not great.

pretty slow to listen to. voices not great. love the author and character. might just be a series you have to read instead of listen.