The Other Woman

A Novel

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

From Daniel Silva, the number one New York Times best-selling author, comes a modern masterpiece of espionage, love, and betrayal. She was his best-kept secret....

In an isolated village in the mountains of Andalusia, a mysterious Frenchwoman begins work on a dangerous memoir. It is the story of a man she once loved in the Beirut of old, and a child taken from her in treason’s name. The woman is the keeper of the Kremlin’s most closely guarded secret. Long ago, the KGB inserted a mole into the heart of the West - a mole who stands on the doorstep of ultimate power. Only one man can unravel the conspiracy: Gabriel Allon, the legendary art restorer and assassin who serves as the chief of Israel’s vaunted secret intelligence service. Gabriel has battled the dark forces of the new Russia before, at great personal cost. Now he and the Russians will engage in a final epic showdown, with the fate of the postwar global order hanging in the balance.

©2018 Daniel Silva (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A tense, thrilling adventure.... With Silva's novels you find yourself being educated as well as being entertained.... Silva is that rarity of rarities, a writer whose stories just keep getting better." (Huffington Post)

"An irresistible thriller.... The phrase 'number-one New York Times best-selling author' gets bandied about a lot (Which list? For how long?), but in Silva's case, it means exactly what it says." (Booklist, starred review)

"Written by one of our greatest living spy novelists, House of Spies gives us protagonist Gabriel Allon in his 17th adventure. The novel features Silva's taut and compelling dialogue and keen insight into the human psyche." (Dallas Morning News)

One of his best

Silva managed to keep me riveted without let up. He inserted current events as smoothly as usual as well as current political figures. The ending left open the avenue to another tale.

Terrific

As good as the best John Le Carre novel. Complex and compelling. Daniel Gila at his best.

Don't miss this one if you like David Silva.

The story is, as usual in David Silva's novels, entertaining (never a dull moment), well told and frightfully plausible.
George Vidal's performance is a bit under par, not quite clear even when slowing the speed to 95%, which I strongly recommend.

Typically good Allon story

The story was good. Some interesting twists and turns.

George Guidall was excellent as always BUT the audio quality was disappointing. Where audio was stitched together was jarring, it detracted from the listening experience.

Really Scrummy

The narrator / actor was excellent. The story was great until the ending. Still, it was a good book.

Good, not great

Reading this book may be better than listening to it. I enjoy the voices and characterizations as I have for other of Guidall's work I found this story a bit less exciting and more ponderous with its description of the mystery. I almost decided to wait to read the book. However, it may be that I do not just sit and listen for periods of time. Rather, it's with me during the day and while driving in my car on short trips. A 12 hour trip reading the book maybe would have brought it "together" in a more exciting way for me.
So, I recommend listening on long trips or for hours at a time than in 20 minute segments

A Little Disappointing. . .

I am rating this book against other Daniel Silva books. It is still better than most books out there, but not up to the standard of previous Gabrial Allon books. Too often it seem that Gabrial is the dupe of MI6, and this is not the character I have come to love. It also lacks the historical context I so much love in this series. The concept of the "other woman" is clever, and also cleverly tied to the history of the head of Mi6 (Graham Seymore). Seymore comes across as a very unpleasant character, whereas in the past he has been an ally. What can I say? I am used to Gabrial coming out on top! Plus, it is more implausible than usual that Gabrial can flit from country to country under cover to conduct his operations, which seemed thrown together in this book. I looked forward to this book so much; perhaps my expectations were just too high.

Best book of the summer!

Daniel Silva’s storytelling is smart, layered and relevant. The Other Woman is so well written; every plot twist is thrilling and unexpected. The characters are complex yet accessible. Highly recommend!

Not as Great as Previous Novels

Interesting story, but a few chapters went into far too much excruciating detail about the past history of some of Gabriel’s adversaries.

A story that mirrors today's headlines!

I first heard this book mentioned on a news commentary and just had to hear it. It's astounding how the storyline and the characters present a vivid deja vu of the political twists and turns of the current era.

I couldn't put this aside for a moment until it was done. I've always enjoyed Silva but this is, for me, clearly his best so far.