Inside Job (Gabriel Allon #25)

Inside Job by Daniel Silva is the 25th book in the Gabriel Allon series.

Sometimes the only way to recover a stolen masterpiece is to steal it back …

Gabriel Allon has been awarded a commission to restore one of the most important paintings in Venice. But when he discovers the body of a mysterious woman floating in the waters of the Venetian Lagoon, he finds himself in a desperate race to recover a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci.

The painting, a portrait of a beautiful young girl, has been gathering dust in a storeroom at the Vatican Museums for more than a century, misattributed and hidden beneath a worthless picture by an unknown artist. Because no one knows that the Leonardo is there, no one notices when it disappears one night during a suspicious power outage. No one but the ruthless mobsters and moneymen behind the theft – and the mysterious woman whom Gabriel found in a watery grave in Venice. A woman without a name. A woman without a face.

Silva is a great writer, pulling readers in on the first page and holding them until the last. 

Silva, Daniel. (2025). Inside Job. New York: Harper.

A Death in Cornwall (Gabriel Allon #24)

A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva is the 24th book in the Gabriel Allon series - following the life of an art restorer and now-retired Mossad agent. 

Art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon has slipped quietly into London to attend a reception at the Courtauld Gallery celebrating the return of a stolen self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh. But when an old friend from the Devon and Cornwall Police seeks his help with a baffling murder investigation, he finds himself pursuing a powerful and dangerous new adversary.

This is my favorite thriller/mystery/espionage series. Gabriel Allon is a great character. Daniel Silva is an amazing writer. If you like books, check out this series.

Silva, Daniel. (2024). A Death in Cornwall. New York: Harper.

The Collector (Gabriel Allon #23)

The Collector by Daniel Silva is the 23rd book in the Gabriel Allon series - a Mossad agent who wanted to be a painter. 

Gabriel is now retired and living in Venice with his wife and children. He and Chiara have opened an art restoration company. 

When General Ferrari of the art crime squad show up asking Gabriel to evaluate a painting, Gabriel knows there will be more to it than a simple appraisal. 

What he finds in the home a recently murdered shipping tycoon in Almalfi is a painting that has been missing for decades. A painting stolen from the Isabella Gardener Museum in 1990. 

What follows is classic Allon. Daniel Silva is a master of storytelling, weaving in current events, historical fact and enough suspense to keep you up all night reading. 

Silva, Daniel. (2023). The Collector. New York: Harper. 

Portrait of an Unknown Woman (Gabriel Allon #22)

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva is the 22nd book in his Gabriel Allon espionage series.

Gabriel Allon has finally retired from Mossad. His days of traveling the world on secret missions, or even his days of sending others on secret missions, is over. He and Chiara and the twins are moving to Venice where he can concentrate on art.

A few paintings by Old Master have recently been discovered in a private collection - code for likely forged with a small chance of being an authentic lost treasure. 

When an art dealer friend asks for help, Gabriel so be hunting the world's best forger. 

Silva is a great writer and storyteller. Read him!

Silva, Daniel. (2022). Portrait of an Unknown Woman. New York: Harper.

The Cellist (Gabriel Allon #21)

The Cellist by Daniel Silva is the twenty-first book in his Gabriel Allon series. Allon is an Israeli spy who is now the head of Mossad.

Victor Orlov, a Russia oligarch fled to UK years ago. Not that the Kremlin ever forgot about him. Case in point, he was just poisoned, apparently by an envelope dropped off by the journalist Nina Antonova.

Filled with all of the characters you have loved in previous books, Allon heads to London to help solve this mystery whose path will lead all over Russia and North America. 

Silva is a beautiful writer. His words are always well chosen and his plot twists impeccable. His is one of the best writers around. If you don't know about him and like political intrigue, espionage and a fast pace, get started today.

Silva, Daniel. (2021). The Cellist. New York: Harper.

The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19)

The New Girl by Daniel Silva is the nineteenth book in his Gabriel Allon espionage series. If you have not started this series yet, start today!

 At an exclusive private school in Switzerland, a girl begins the term late. She is quite and a bit different than the other students. First of all she has her own security even though the school has its own – many children of important people attend this school. Secondly, one teacher thinks the girl is not who she says she is; not even her name seems real. Then the girl is gone.

 Sarah Bancroft manages the Nadia Al-Bacari collection at the Met. When a wealthy collector she has worked with reaches out to her it is not to buy a painting. It is to set up a meeting between him and Gabriel Allon. Somehow Khalid ben Mohammed, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, knows that Sarah is former FBI and has worked with Allon. KBM is desperate to meet a man whom most in Saudia Arabia think is the devil. Because his daughter has been kidnapped.

 Silva is a masterful storyteller. Readers are hooked by the end of the first paragraph. This is on of the best fiction series, hands down.

 Silva, Daniel. (2019). The New Girl. New York: Harper.

The Other Woman (Gabriel Allon 18)

The Other Woman by Daniel Silva is the eighteenth book in his series featuring Gabriel Allon, a Mossad spy who just wants to be an art restorer.

In the continued time of every country spying on every other country, whether friend or foe, everyone is fighting for information. Israel has developed an agent from Russia and is sharing their finds with England and the United States.

When that spy thinks he has been burned, Mossad sets up a way to pull him out and resettle him in a safe place for all of his work over the years.

But the layers of espionage have other ideas. There is a French n the mountains of Andalusia whose knowledge could disrupt the spy services of the United States and England. She has been keeping tabs since she fell in love with a spy in Beirut in the 1960s.

Silva is a masterful story teller who weaves current day news into his stories. He is one of the best authors writing today.

Silva, Daniel. (2018). The Other Woman. New York: Harper.

House of Spies (Gabriel Allon #17)

House of Spies by Daniel Silva is the seventeenth book featuring Gabriel Allon, a Mossad agent who was first recruited after the terror at the Berlin Olympics. Since then he has been a top agent who wants nothing more than to be a paint restorer and spend quiet time with his family. If only the world would allow it.

Gabriel is now the head of the office. Most chiefs stay in Jerusalem and run things from a desk. But Gabriel has a personal reason to need to catch the ISIS terrorist calling himself Saladin. One of his bomb killed a friend in Paris. Gabriel will join his team in Europe to track any trace of the terror mastermind.

Christopher Keller, ex-SAS, will give the team a criminal element needed to catch a criminal. Keller has been living in Corsica working for a mafia don and has connections to the underside of Europe.

Silva is an amazing writer who grabs readers with the first paragraph. His characters are compelling, his plots sometimes a bit too close to our current reality, and his twists and turns are the work of a master planner. Anyone who likes to read needs to read a Daniel Silva book. Start at the beginning with The Kill Artist or read his stand along spy masterpiece TheUnlikely Spy.

Silva, Daniel. (2017). House of Spies. New York: Harper.

The Black Widow (Gabriel Allon #16)

The Black Widow by Daniel Silva is the 16th book his series featuring Gabriel Allon.

Gabriel Allon was recruited years ago, first being called to hunt down the member of a group who killed 11 Israelis at the Munich Olympics. Since then he has done many things for the state of Israel. Gabriel wishes the world were a place where he could be a painter or an art restorer full time.

Now, as he is about to take over the office, Gabriel is sent to Paris in the wake of a terrorist attack that has killed one of his friends. His hand-picked team will follow clues around the work to find the man behind the attack. The trail will lead them to some very dangerous places in the world and end in a place we hope terrorists never reach.

Silva has created an amazing character in Gabriel Allon. This series is fast-paced, intelligent and addictive. If you have not read it, start at the beginning. I will read anything he ever publishes!

Silva, Daniel. (2016). The Black Widow. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The English Spy (Gabriel Allon #15)

The English Spy by Daniel Silva is the fifteenth book in his Gabriel Allon suspense / espionage series. Allon is an Israeli Mossad agent, though he has wanted to retire for years and keeps being pulled back in to take care of problems.

The death of an English princess sets off a series of investigations that quickly lead the head of MI-6 to conclude that there are only two men capable of capturing (or killing) the man responsible.  Graham Seymour meets with the head of the Office, Israeli's version of MI-6, and gets approval to contact Gabriel Allon.

Gabriel is about to become a father. His wife is about to give birth to twins. The last thing Gabriel wants is to hunt down an assassin - and one of the world's foremost bomb makers. But Gabriel does what needs to be done both to protect the innocent and to settle old debts.With the help of an ex-SAS officer who has turned assassin, Gabriel will hunt down the Real IRA bomber.

Silva is a masterful story teller. He is a brilliant writer. His books are fast-paced with realistic characters we hope are in the world protecting us. Start the Gabriel Allon series at the beginning with The Kill Artist. Or start with his WWII espionage masterpiece, An Unlikely Spy. You will  not be disappointed!

Silva, Daniel. (2015). The English Spy. New York: Harper.

The Heist (Gabriel Allon #14)

The Heist by Daniel Silva is the fourteen book in his series featuring Gabriel Allon - an Israeli spy and art restorer.

After being in the field much longer than he wished to be and giving up on being able to retire from service to his country and spend time restoring paintings, Gabriel Allon has agreed to take over the Office. In the free time he has left, he has taken a job in Venice restoring an alter in a church. But like all of his free time, it is interrupted.

General Ferarri of the Carabinieri's Art Squad informs Gabriel that he has arrested a friend. Art dealer Julian Isherwood was on a trip to Lake Como to evaluate a painting for sale. When he arrived, the man he was to meet had been murdered. Isherwood is in custody until Gabriel vouches for him and agrees to take the job finding a stolen painting.

Gabriel will travel through out Europe and back to Israel to try to find a stole Caravaggio - that has been missing since 1969. Along the way, he will discover other missing paintings, and come up with a plan to find the person using stolen art to build a nest egg.

Allon is an amazing character who you will want on your side and in charge of your safety. He is one of the best spies ever written. Start the series at the beginning!

Silva, Daniel (2014). The Heist. New York: HarperCollins.

The English Girl (Gabriel Allon #13)

The English Girl by Daniel Silva is the thirteenth book in his series featuring Gabriel Allon - a Mossad assassin who just wants to retire, but keeps getting pulled back into a world of espionage, terrorism and politics.

Gabriel is once again retired. He and his wife, Chiara, are living in Israel. He is restoring a painting - at which he is a genius. Chiara is working at the Israel Museum overseeing the building of a new exhibit. Until his old boss comes for a visit telling him that Graham Seymour of MI5 has asked for a meeting.

Madeline Hart is a rising star in British politics. Rumor is it that she could one day be prime minister. But while on vacation in Corsica she disappears. One month later, the senior advisor to the British prime minister receives a photo of Madeline holding a current newspaper. Included in the envelope is a note that she will die in seven days. The note is given to the prime minster, who contacted Graham Seymour, who flew to Israel to recruit Gabriel Allon. Though Allon wants only to spend time with his wife and a string of great works of art, he will help look for Madeline Hart.

Silva is a master story teller. From his first book, The Unlikely Spy, he has been at the top of the espionage genre. His character Allon is a force who readers will follow to the ends of the Earth. Any reader even slightly interested in espionage or thrillers needs to read all Daniel Silva's books.

Silva, Daniel. (2013). The English Girl. New York: Harper.

The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon #12)

The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva is book twelve in the Gabriel Allon series. Gabriel is an artist whose career was interrupted when his country needed him, and he spent most of his life in the service of Israel's Mossad. Now he is retired and just wants to restore paintings.

He is currently working on a Caravaggio for the Vatican. But when a woman is found dead in St. Peter's Basilica, Monsignor Luigi Donati asks Gabriel to investigate. Donati had asked the woman to catalog the art and artifacts in the Vatican in order to make sure they each had a provenance and there would be no surprises. Just after she called to tell him she found something, she ended up dead.Now Gabriel is pulled back from his retirement and into the center of an international ring of looted antiquities, murder, and terrorism that spans the globe.

Daniel Silva writes espionage thrillers better than anyone else. He is a master of sucking in readers before the first paragraph has been completed. Gabriel Allon is an amazing character that readers would follow anywhere.

Silva, Daniel. (2012). The Fallen Angel. New York: Harper.

Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon #11)

Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva is his eleventh book in the Gabriel Allon series - a spy who just wants to be retired to work on restoring paintings, but who keeps getting pulled back into espionage.

Gabriel and Chiara are retired. They are living on the Cornwall coast where Gabriel is restoring a Rembrandt. Though they are living under false names to hide from past enemies, they are settling into retired life.

But when they visit London and try to go out for a quiet lunch in Convent Garden, Gabriel see a man he is sure is a suicide bomber. Being a Israeli Mossad agent, he is trained to notice the signs.

Of course Gabriel cannot let the man blow up a major shopping area in London - so once again Gabriel and Chiara are pulled back into the Office.

Silva is a master storyteller. His writing draws reader into the story before the end of the first page, delighting us with skill. His characters are flawed and beautiful - the type of people we hope are really watching our backs in this new world of terrorism. His action and pace leave up breathless and up all night reading. And then pacing until he finishes writing the next installment. Read the Gabriel Allon series - it is one of the best ever written.

Silva, Daniel. (2011). Portrait of a Spy. New York: Harper.

The Rembrandt Affair (Gabriel Allon #10)

The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva is the 10th book in his Gabriel Allon series. Gabriel is an art restorer of the highest quality and a Mossad agent to keeps trying to retire.

The only thing that could pull him away from his cliff-side cottage, his wife Chiara, and a beautiful painting that needs his attention is the theft of a previously unknown Rembrandt. The painting was being restored quietly in Glastonbury, England when the restorer was killed and the painting disappeared.

But in the way of Daniel Silva's books, the painting is only one piece of a puzzle that will include international intrigue, murder, conspiracy, and more. Silva is a phenomenal writer whose books are addictive.

Read the series starting from the beginning with The Kill Artist.

Silva, Daniel. (2010). The Rembrandt Affair. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The Defector (Gabriel Allon #9)

The Defector is the latest Daniel Silva book featuring Gabriel Allon - the Israeli assassin who keeps trying to retire to a life of restoring paintings but keeps getting pulled back into service.

The Defector is a continuation of the previous book, Moscow Rules. Business that Gabriel though was wrapped up begins to unravel when a man who helped save him disappears from his home in London.

Gigori Bulganov would never willingly go back to Russia - as a defector who used to work for the FSB (the current day version of the KGB) he would be killed as a traitor.

Gabriel thinks of it as his responsibility to find Gigori and bring him back to England.
The man whose life was disrupted in the previous book is out for revenge and will stop at nothing to get the people who hurt him.

I can't really say much more without giving away this and the previous books. What I can say is that Daniel Silva is a brilliant author whose stories and characters pull reader into his created world from the first page. Readers of espionage, thrillers, or politics will quickly become addicted to his writing. This book The Unlikely Spy was the most fascinating and plot-twisting book I have ever read.

Silva, Daniel. (2009). The Defector. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

The Marching Season (Michael Osbourne #2)

The Marching Season is the second book in Daniel Silva's Michael Osbourne series.

Michael has retired from the CIA and is starting to become restless. He has no skills that transfer into other fields. So, when his father-in-law is appointed to be the US Ambassador to London, Michael agrees to take his old job back to help keep Ambassador Canon safe.

The reason he needs protection is a group calling itself the Ulster Freedom Brigade - a new group in Northern Ireland whose sole purpose is to stop the proposed peace accords. UFB sees the peace accords as the British, Americans and Catholics (IRA) selling them out once again. They will do anything to stop the talks.

At the same time as Michael is rejoining the CIA, an assassin is killing a known enemy of Israel. When Michael sees the video of the shooting, he is convinced that the man who tried to kill him and his wife is still alive - a man only know my his KGB codename October.

With his usual skill, Silva weaves a tale of terrorism and espionage into a book that readers will devour.

Silva, Daniel. (1999). The Marching Season. New York: Signet.

The Mark of the Assassin (Michael Osbourne #1)

Daniel Silva's Mark of the Assassin is the mark of a great author! It is the first book in the Michael Osbourne series.

Michael Osbourne has been a spy all of his career - of course, he prefers the term case officer. Now he is at a desk at CIA headquarters. But when an assassin he has been tracking for most of his career strikes again he cannot sit behind a desk and let him get away.

The assassin, a former KGB operative, is the best in the business. Before his current assignment he has never killed any innocent civilians. And technically he did not launch the missile that shot a Boeing 747 out of the sky off of the coast of NYC.

Now he has been rehired by the group behind the downing of the plane - hired to kill anyone who knows about the original plot.

Will multiple hits by the assassin be enough to lead Osbourne to the identity of the killer? Or will Osbourne get in the way and have to be taken out?

The sequel to The Mark of the Assassin is The Marching Season.

Silva, Daniel. (1998). The Mark of the Assassin. New York: Villard.

The Unlikely Spy

The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva is a well researched look at the spy networks at play in World War II.

Professor Alfred Vicary is pulled into MI5 at the beginning of WWII to find the spies Germany is sneaking into England. Some spies are killed, some are imprisoned and some are turned- used to feed false information to the Nazis.

Kurt Vogel is in charge of a small network of sleeper agents who were placed in England before the war began. Catherine Blake has been working in a hospital waiting to be activated.
After six years it is her turn.

Blake is to find a way to meet an American engineer who has been sent to London to work on a large project that will - if pulled off - ensure the Allied invasion at Normandy.

Even knowing the outcome of the war, Silva captures readers and makes them wonder how the book will end. With so many double-agents and players on both sides it is a wonder any information could be trusted.

The Unlikely Spy was Daniel Silva's first book. He is currently working on the Garielle Allon series - about an Israeli assassin.

Sliva, Daniel. (1995). The Unlikely Spy. New York: Signet Books.

Moscow Rules (Gabriel Allon #8)

Moscow Rules is the latest Gabriel Allon book by Daniel Silva. (Unfortunately, I read the others before I began to blog - may add them later...)

Gabriel Allon is an art restorer. He is one of the best in the world. Had he wanted to he could have been the most successful forger in the world. However, before he could finish art school he was called to help his country.

Now, when not restoring art, Gabriel is an assassin. He has been part of the Israeli counter-terrorism team since just after the Munich Olympics. Every time his boss, Ari Shamron, calls Gabriel stops painting and hunts down another enemy of Israel.

In Moscow Rules, Gabriel is only supposed to meet with a Russian newspaper man. It should only take a couple of hour - which is good since he is on his honeymoon. But like all things that Gabriel gets involved with, something will draw him further into the race. In this case it is a race to track down a Russian arms dealer who has just sold anti-aircraft missiles to the same group that attacked the US on 9/11.

Silva is a master of international espionage. His books are face-paced and exciting from the first page to the last. His settings are alluring and the action heart racing. Start at the beginning of the series:

Gabriel Allon:
1-The Kill Artist
2-The English Assassin
3-The Confessor
4-A Death in Vienna
5-Prince of Fire
6-The Messenger
7-The Secret Servant
8-Moscow Rules

Silva, Daniel. (2008). Moscow Rules. New York: G.P.Putnam's Sons.