Silva's latest novel to feature art restorer/Israeli agent Gabriel Allon (after 2004's A Death in Vienna) is a passionate, intelligently crafted entry that cements the series' place among today's top spy fiction. The structure is classic-the semireluctant spy, Gabriel, is pulled from his cover to hunt down terrorists who have committed a horrific crime, in this case the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Rome. The mastermind behind the bombing is French archeologist Paul Martineau, aka "Khaled, son of Sabri, grandson of Sheikh Asad. Khaled, avenger of past wrongs, sword of Palestine." Orphaned as a child after his father is killed by the Israelis, Khaled is also the adopted son of Yasir Arafat, who has now activated Khaled to wreak vengeance on his mortal enemies. Gabriel assembles a team of crack young agents and sets out to find when and where Khaled will strike next. The determined team tracks down the terrorist, but when Gabriel goes in for the kill the plot takes a stunning twist; the lives of all, plus hundreds of innocent bystanders, are threatened. Gabriel is a complex character with a rich past. His wife, Leah, is confined to a psychiatric hospital in London, mentally damaged and physically disfigured from the bombing that killed their son. He lives with the beautiful Chiara, whom he can't marry out of loyalty to Leah, even though she seems to barely know him. Silva hints at further entries in the series in which Gabriel must step up and assume new duties: "Gabriel, you are the mightiest," his former mentor tells the agent. "You're the one who defends Israel against its accusers. You're the angel of judgment-the Prince of Fire." Agent, Esther Newberg. (Feb. 22) Forecast: This series is getting better with each new entry, which should result in increasing sales. Author tour. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A bomb rips through the Israeli embassy in Rome, killing many of the occupants along with numerous innocent civilians. As a result, Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon's cover as an art restorer is blown, so he returns to Israel, where he leads a small team whose goal is revenge against a legendary terrorist who might not even exist. Although he's aging and wants out of the fray, he must see this (final?) action through, as the bomber may be the same man who killed his young son and maimed his beloved wife, Leah, more than ten years ago. In his seventh novel (the fifth featuring Allon), Silva (The Kill Artist) offers a grim and chilling portrayal of life in both Palestine and Israel. Both sides see themselves as under siege and consider the other a deadly enemy. Accounts of the history and the current situation are depressingly well written; Silva keeps getting better. Recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/04.]-Robert Conroy, Warren, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Not long after an explosion in Rome destroys the Israeli embassy compound, a file linked to the terrorists behind the bombing surfaces; it contains a remarkably comprehensive account of the career of Gabriel Allon, including the date of his recruitment by the Israeli secret service. Living in Venice and about to embark upon the restoration of a priceless Rubens painting, Gabriel, a talented art restorer and a reluctant spy, must return to Israel and the auspices of the agency bureaucrats. He is assigned the task of identifying the bombers, which eventually results in a face-to-face meeting with Yassar Arafat, the man responsible for the death of Gabriel's child and the maiming of his wife some 10 years earlier. He suspects that Arafat is deeply connected to the Rome bomber, whom Gabriel believes is a third-generation terrorist who has been protected and schooled as a mastermind by Arafat himself. Along with the meticulously detailed plot, Silva, in his fifth Allon novel, provides a clear-eyed chronicle of the endless warfare between the Israelis and the Palestinians, who for thirty years had been swimming together in the same river of blood. Operatives from both sides carry the same tragic stories of family members lost to battle or bombings, yet they remain single-mindedly devoted to their causes even as they grow weary of the bloodshed. In a story that seems ripped from the headlines, Silva delivers both chilling suspense and a thoughtful if grim history lesson. --Joanne Wilkinson Copyright 2005 Booklist