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Loading... The Fallen Angelby Daniel Silva
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A woman is discovered dead on the floor of The Sistine Chapel. Was it a suicide, as the Vatican wants everyone to believe, or was it murder? Since Gabriel Allon is right there restoring a Caravaggio, why not ask him to figure out what really happened? That's the setup. Everything unfolds from there. Once again, it's more than what it appears. The woman was on an assignment to make sure all the Vatican's antiquities had legal provenance and nothing needed to be returned. She had discovered a problem and was about to let the Pope's right-hand man Donati, Gabriel's buddy, know what she had found, and all of a sudden she's dead. As usual in these novels, that's a head fake to divert us from the really bigger plot, which as usual, involves terrorists about to do major harm to Israel which only Gabriel can stop before all is lost. Yes, he'll take some hits in the process and pay physically for his success. Yes, it goes to Switzerland. And Vienna and the Vatican. Yes, the gang's all there, Eli, Uzi, Ari, Chiara, Youssef, etc. Yes, Iran is behind all the bad guys. And there are zealots and fanatics. Coded messages that make no sense, at first. People hiding in plain sight being recognized for who they really are. What makes this one a little different is more action takes place in Jerusalem, and sacred places, like the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall, are in serious danger. Lots of archeological references. Read it. It’s a quick read. Wham, bam..... ( ) Daniel Silva continues to evolve the ongoing story of Gabriel Allon and his team of operative in The Office without becoming repetitive or cliche. In fact, this edition, even though it was published a decade ago, is very timely and predictive of the violence currently taking place in Israel at this moment in time. As entertaining as this series is, it is also a lens focusing in on the complex strip of land that has been fought over for 3,000 years. If you have enjoyed the series this far, this edition won’t let you down. If you haven’t read Daniel Silva before, I highly recommend starting from the beginning. It is well worth the journey. Gabriel Allon is restoring a painting on site at the Vatican when a young woman is found dead in the Basilica of St. Peter and Allon is asked to investigate by Cardinal Donati. The investigation leads Gabriel to national treasures being stripped from their original location and sold. Much of the proceeds are going to Hezbollah to support their continuing war with Israel. He tries to prevent two bombings and uncover the head of the art theft ring. Another gem from author Daniel Silva. Gabriel Allon is working on restoring a Caravaggio painting owned by the Vatican when an art curator falls to her death in St. Peters. Monsignor Donati and the Pope want her death investigated quietly because she was involved in a special project surrounding the provenance of the Vatican's collection. Gabriel discovers that an Italian mobster is selling stolen antiquities to fund terrorist activities of Hezbollah. Gabriel is almost killed by a bomb and thwarts a catastrophe as a feint to hide a bombing that would unite the Arab world against Israel. Great intrigue. Maybe it's because I didn't realize this was right in the middle of a series. Maybe it's because I was interested in the mystery of who killed the lady in the Basilica but you find out less than half way through. Maybe it's because I felt like I was being told a history lesson every third page so was pulled out of the story. Or maybe it's because there were so many names (none of which were familiar) that I couldn't concentrate on the plot and instead was trying to figure out who everyone. Could be that I shouldn't have listened to this as an audiobook (has nothing to do with the narrator because I've listened to this guy in the past and have had zero issues). Either way, I just couldn't get into this book. I just didn't care about ANY of it. I really feel like it was me and not the book; I couldn't just give it one star if it was me. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesGabriel Allon (12) AwardsNotable Lists
When a body is found beneath Michelangelo's dome, Gabriel Allon is summoned to secretly investigate the death that has been ruled a suicide--a case that brings about an unthinkable act of sabotage. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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