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Wednesday, September 18, 2013

The English Girl

I have a bone to pick with my husband.  I can't understand why he has never recommended Daniel Silva's books to me before, since he's read every single one of them.  I put The English Girl (#332) on hold way before he thought to do it, so I actually did both of us a favor by getting it first.  Since it was my hold, that meant I read it first.  Reader, I just discovered another treasure trove of must-read novels!

Madeline Hart is the eponymous English girl in this thriller.  She's also the mistress of the British Prime Minister, so when she is kidnapped while on vacation in Corsica, it not only makes the news as a missing British national, it also makes waves in the Party, where the Prime Minister's inner circle of political handlers are trying desperately to make this scandal go away.  Who could handle this thorny problem better and more discretely than Gabriel Allon, accomplished art restorer and assassin working under the auspices of Israeli Intelligence?

There are plenty of plot twists here, and you wonder just whose heads will roll by the end.  There are a number of references to Gabriel's previous missions in The English Girl, but I'm happy to say that Mr. Silva provides enough background to make the story cohesive even if you have not read any of his previous books.  I could enjoy this story on its own, but those hints certainly did whet my appetite to find out more about Gabriel Allon, his Italian wife Chiara, the assassin who is his partner in this book, and his companions at "The Office".

It's always a thrill to find a new source of reading pleasure.  If you've read any Daniel Silva books, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.  If you haven't, there's no time like the present to find out why he's a perennial best seller!

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