The Heist

The fourteenth book of the Daniel Allon series begins with a murder investigation surrounding a stolen painting and becomes a mission to hunt down the hidden assets of the Syrian president. Gabriel Allon displays his talents as an art restorer, investigator, and Israeli intelligence operative. The story begins when Gabriel attempts to save Julian Isherwood from jail by agreeing to recover the most famous missing painting in the world, Caravaggio’s Nativity. While on this search he recruits the help of a German naturalized citizen, Jihan Nawaz, whose family was the victim of a major massacre in her Syrian hometown. Numerous old favorites from prior series make an appearance here but the most compelling characters of the book are show more Gabriel and Jihan.

Gabriel Allon has an incredibly complex personality, which makes him more empathetic, and believable. He sometimes makes mistakes and allows himself to be haunted by the loss of loved ones. One of the most poignant scenes in the book is when Gabriel visits his first wife, Leah, who was scarred emotionally and physically by a terrorist bombing where their son was killed. It is heart-breaking to see Leah’s struggles with psychotic depression and witness her as a prisoner to the past. Leah very rarely makes an appearance but when she does she can still pack quite a powerful punch for long time readers.

As always I learned a lot about famous paintings and artists. I found myself googling a number of the paintings referenced and that seemed to add some extra enjoyment to the story for me. The plot line is action packed and filled with intrigue and suspense. Normally this would be a five star read for me but for the very first time I felt like I'd already read this story. It's hard to keep a character fresh after fourteen books and by the end of the book you realize there will soon be lots of changes in Gabriel's life that will potentially open up some great possibilities for future books. I'm still a fan and Silva can count on me to pre-order his next Gabriel Allon thriller. show less

I was sucked into this book almost immediately. I'll admit that there are some questionable political ideologies thrown around at times, but as far as spy thrillers go, I found myself unable to do anything but root for the protagonist and hope (against hope) that they would actually be successful in their unbelievable (seriously, incroyable ) international heist. I enjoyed every minute of it and it actually helped me feel better about my recent insomnia. So many books, who would want to sleep?!

Yet another Gabriel Allon wild ride. He's getting a little older. We've seen him getting beat up and we wonder, is he still up to it. Can he keep saving the world, or at avenging the wronged. He has a history with several countries which realize he's capable of dastardly things which they can't condone even if they approve of why he does it. He's also got a roster of people he can call on when he needs. And Silva never seems to disappoint. He takes us right up to the dramatic height only to pull the rug out at the last moment. At the critical moment the phone ceases to work, the phone call drops, the critical link turns up dead, a phone call arrives, always just in time for an immediate change of course, plan B, time to regroup, show more rethink, stand down.

At this point I have to issue a spoiler alert. If you like to be surprised then stop reading at this point and come back once you've read the book.

Chiara is pregnant with twins so Gabriel has to avoid things he might normally take on. He's also already slated to become Director of The Office at the end of Uzi's term, something he's not looking forward to. He'd rather be restoring masterpieces in his beloved Venice but others keep pulling at him in ways it's difficult to say no. It all starts when the head of Italy's Art Squad blackmails him to keep his old friend Julian Isherwood out of reputational damage. Of course Gabriel can't say no so the search begins for stolen art. The name of the book, The Heist, comes from Gabriel's plan to steal a masterpiece to entice the buyer of stolen art to reveal themselves and hopefully determine where a missing Caravaggio might be. So Gabriel arranges to steal Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Eventually we learn that Assad has been buying art to keep his assets from being frozen or confiscated. It's post the Arab Spring and everyone is dealing with the new realities, especially Assad and the Alawites. Now the plot gets into high gear once we know the Syrian's are behind all the murders and brutality. As each subplot gets to the critical point the story takes another dramatic turn. We go to Lake Como, to Paris, to Geneva, to Munich, to Linz, to Vienna, to London and of course to Israel, and back again. Lots of cars, plains and trains. Even a sailboat. At one point Gabriel has his hackers steal billions from banks around the world only to return most of it to rescue a girl who he lied to get his hands on the money in the first place. Gabriel always protects the innocents who help him.

And whenever we need to slow down a bit there's always interpersonal stuff going on. Shamron is on his last legs and concerned that Gabriel may be jeopardizing his lifelong plan to make sure his "son" becomes the Director. Bella is angry because she sees Gabriel as undermining Uzi's turn as Director. Everyone is nervous as the future Director walks in unexpectedly. And of course there's the CIA, MI6, the Swiss, the Austrians, the French, the Germans. And virtually no mention of the Palestinians, nor any Hassidim. More than enough to keep the soup swirling. show less

Surprise! Gabriel manages to save Jihan though it is at the expense of gaining leverage on Syria. After reading a few Gabriel Allon novels, I have come to expect that someone will die. So it is a pleasant surprise Jihan didn't; Gabriel's choice here once again demonstrates the humane side of him. Sometimes Silva spends too much time dwelling on Gabriel's character but he hits on the right mix here. He also did not spend too much time on the historical background, hence getting into the action fast. The only flaw is that you feel you have read two books - the art heist and the money heist feels like two different plots.

I really enjoy this series which stars Gabriel Allon, an Israeli spy and art restorer. You always learn something about painting and art restoration and there is always an excellent mystery to boot.

In this installment Gabriel is working in Venice restoring a picture in a church when he is asked to get involved in clearing an old friend of a murder charge. The murder victim was a former British spy and art dealer was suspected of dealing in stolen art and, in particular, Caravaggio's Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence. In clearing his friend's name Allon discovers works of art that have been covered over by new paintings but not the Caravaggio. To flush out the Caravaggio painting Allon cooks up a scheme to steal another painting show more (Allon carefully says borrow, not steal) and offer it to the underground market. It appears that the Syrian dictator is involved so Allon then decides to steal the money stashed away in foreign banks by the Syrians. So there are a number of heists involved in this plot and I guess Silva invites us to take our pick as to which one the title refers.

Fast-paced and set in multiple locales from Tel Aviv to London, you are not going to be bored listening or reading to this book. I listened to it narrated by George Guidall and enjoyed it hugely. show less

I enjoyed this, but not as much as the most recent instalment (the only other one I have read). This was partly because I found it very similar to that book - many of the same characters appear and fulfil similar roles. This story starts off with Gabriel tasked to find a murderer and a missing Caravaggio altar piece, but morphs into a campaign against the brutal Syrian dictator. It became so focussed on that that I completely forgot about the artwork frame, which was something of a device for a story about the recent history of Syria. (It is depressing how little has changed in Syria and Ukraine since 2014).

The conclusion of the Syria plot was a little odd too -

SPOILERS

one minute the Israelis are so excited about confiscating billions show more of dollars of the dictator's ill-gotten gains, and then they are giving all the money back to save the life of their asset. I was really hoping she was going to turn out to be a double agent, but no such luck... show less

Legendary Israil spy Gabriel Allon fabricates a missing masterpiece to conduct a daring mission to retrieve a Caravaggio painting from the leader of Iran who is diversifing his wealth in case of a revolution.
Well writen and an energetic plot.