The Secret Servant

Gabriel Allon, Book 7

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

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)

Brilliantly written and wonderfully performed

As always, the descriptions take you all over the world, the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat, and the characters are brout to life by a wonderful performance. Enjoy.

love this author

Another great book by Daniel Silva. Can't wait to read next book about Gabriel Alone

Thrilling!

The initial plot is a bit of threadbare cliches, but the action set pieces are absolutely thrilling. The last showdown with the bad guys was so good that I went back to listen to it again. There is also a bit more moral nuance in this book not present in other Gabriel Allon adventures. A keeper for sure.

Prescient

Beyond the aspects of a thriller the book gives a hint of why Mubarak would fall and the importance of the Islamists in the short-lived post-Mubarak regime. I went to college by Tavistock Square, where the archetypical two-level London bus was bombed two years before The Secret Servant was published. The background of the novel rings true.

Good Good Good!

This is an engaging international thriller featuring the uncommon secrecy and bravery of the Israeli secret service and its star agent, Albion. Silva writes a good if not great thriller, but I felt Gigante's performance less than stellar. . . with pomposity in his voice for a good bit of the time.

Well Written

Another well written and intriguing novel from beginning tp end. The narrator was flat and lacking any emotion to say the least and rather reduced my enjoyment of this story.

The Secret's Out

This was my second read of the Allon series, and it definitely made me want to read more.

Pretty good

Much better story and ending than The Messenger. It was nice to have things wrapped up properly. There were a lot of clichés in this though. It makes the dialogue hard to listen to sometimes. Decent narrator, but not the best at accents.

Great Silva—with an Important Political Message!

As always this Silva thriller thrills. But it’s got important messages: torture should be employed only in the most extreme situations (to prevent imminent attack). If routine, as in US war on terror, it only produces more enemies. Same with indiscriminate bombing. And many countries we think we have to prop up for security reasons are ruled cruelly and corruptly, alienating their populations—and us for propping them up. Not easy to say what alternatives we have for supporting them beyond pressuring them for reform.

fantastic

As an American who called home the Middle East and then studied in Europe, my only complaint are the numerous mispronunciations of foreign languages. The only reason that I expect more is that I have listened to all of Daniel Silva's books and can compare narrators. Nitpicking. Every one of Silva's books are amazing.