The book begins with a Russian courier spy, who had been recruited by Israel, being murdered while he was trying to defect. That is part 1. Next is the search for who did this and why. Finally, there is the operation to bring the person(s) responsible to justice. In this case it is a powerful spy runner in Russia (Sasha) and a mole in the Anglo-American spy network. ( )

Gabriel is getting older. He's now the top man in The Office but kept Uzi as his deputy. Gabriel would rather be out in the field so we see his old friends there. Other than brief appearances we rarely see Ari and Chiara. He's too busy for art restoration so we only get brief visits to churches and museums and no Venice this time. Instead it's Vienna, London, Bern and Washington. Things kick off with a run of the mill exfiltration of a soviet spy who wants to defect which goes quickly bad when the defector is assassinated as he's about to reach the safe house. Since Gabriel's face is famous and seen in the area he is quickly fingered as the usual suspect. Since the defector was not being followed and killed as he approached the safe house a mole is suspected. After The Office checks everyone on their side their attention turns to their partner in this operation, MI6. Since many were in the need to know group it takes a while to turn up MI6's head of station. As The Office closes in on his off the record trip to Bern the mole is assassinated. Easy answer is the Soviets didn't want their man falling into the wrong hands. But Gabriel is not so sure. After going over everything many times he sees a connection to Beirut in the sixties and the infamous Kim Philby, the most famous mole who fled to Moscow as his group of Cambridge buddies were being exposed.

Gabriel and Graham Seymour, head of MI6, pull on that thread. Philby had been a notorious alcoholic and womanizer and they realize Philby had gotten a journalist pregnant. They eventually find the woman, actually the other woman, living as a recluse in Spain. Closing in on her they learn more about her relationship with Philby. Turns out she kept the pregnancy, giving birth to a daughter who she eventually gave to Philby, she was a committed communist who saw this as her contribution to the cause. They eventually realize the real mole is MI6's head of station in Washington who Seymour has designated as his successor. Embarrassing and compounded by not having proof. They set up a sting to catch her in the act but again someone tips her off at the last moment. Gabriel single handedly foils her exfiltration by guessing she'll try to retrieve something Philby has left behind many years ago. But all is very embarrassing for MI6 so Gabriel once again only gets rewarded silently.

While the entire daughter of Philby is imaginary the whole Philby saga has been well researched and for the most part accurate. Interesting way to hang a story together. ( )

It wasn't difficult to guess who the mole was, and the plot fizzled out for a while once the identity of the mole was clear. But the chase to nab her is just as thrilling. I enjoyed this immensely - something different from the usual Gabriel plot where he more often than not, either plants a mole or deals with a terrorism threat. ( )

Although now written 4 years ago, this book focus on Russian espionage, against backdrop of events in the mid 1900s, but with some very contemporary implications. However, seeing the mess unfolding in Ukraine, I wonder if the Russian secret services are really as competent as this book makes. I trust this is not a spoiler, but the answer precedes the solution. ( )

When Gabriel Allon is falsely assumed to have assassinated a spy, he works with all his usual fellow spies to find out what really happened and why. There is no art restoration and only a brief mention of some unimpressive paintings. Silva's warning to the world in this book is about Russia. ( )