Until a fellow bookworm told me about Daniel Silva, I did not even know this author existed. I found out that he is very successful, very well-known, and has many best-sellers to his name. He is famous – to those who know – for his thriller and spy novels which have the protagonist, “Gabriel Allon”. Silva has written 23 novels featuring Gabriel Allon. All of them have been best-sellers. “Gabriel Allon” has a full Wikipedia page dedicated to him, would you believe it.
What makes this character interesting, is that he is a former member of Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence and Special Operations service, he is an art restorer, and he is a crack shot. He lives in Venice, serenely and peacefully bringing classical paintings back to life. He is a mixture of a secret service agent, spy, detective, art expert, and general butt-kicking trouble-shooter. His strategizing skills are excellent. He can make a plan that will actually pan out as intended.
I didn’t know any of this when I grabbed the latest book in the series, The Collector, which debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list when it came out on July 18, 2023. (And, not knowing how good it would be, and being really far behind on my reading jobs, I left it on my to-read-heap for more than six months.) Of all the ones written by Silva that were available in the bookshop, I picked this one because the blurb on the back mentioned Johannes Vermeer, and I always like novels with an art theme.
The Collector, by Daniel Silva (Crime Action & Adventure, War Adventure, Thriller; Publisher: Harper; July 18, 2023; paperback; 416 pages)
A riveting and current plot
The plot is very current. Like with Chris Hadfield’s The Defector, it’s almost as if Silva knew who was going to be fighting who in 2023. The whole story, especially the descriptions of Vladimir Putin, sounds convincingly – and scarily – realistic.
The story takes place against the background of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gabriel Allon has retired from Israeli intelligence, but he is asked by Italian authorities to look into the theft, from the palatial home of a private collector, of a painting which turns out to be Vermeer’s “The Concert”, which had been missing for over thirty years since it was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
A real painting that really was stolen
The painting in the novel does actually exist, and was actually stolen on March 18, 1990, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and remains missing to this day. There is an actual art thief and collector out there somewhere who knows where this masterpiece is, and can look at it and admire it every day.
Title: The Concert Creator: Jan Vermeer Date Created: About 1665 Physical Dimensions: w64.7 x h72.5 cm Stolen in 1990.
Allon tracks down the thief, as well as the wealthy oil executive who commissioned the theft. In the process, he learns about a more important theft, of materials for a nuclear bomb. He recruits the thief and the oil tycoon to steal a deadly secret plan from a Moscow politician.
Writing style fitting for a thriller
This description does not really do justice to how exciting the book is to read, and how easy it is to get into and consume. I literally finished it in a day. Silva is very good at leading the reader along the trajectory of the plot, while at the same, time, dropping just enough hints and directions that the reader does not get confused or lost. He is very good at using the closing line of a chapter to both lead the reader on and drop a clue.
“Ingrid quickly dispatched a secure satellite message on her Genesis phone, advising the recipient to watch NTV. then she placed her hand on the imaginary dial of Nikolai Petrov’s safe. Four turns to the right, three to the left, two to the right. Twenty-seven, eleven, fifty-five.”
The Collector, by Daniel Silva, p. 310
Silva’s prose is not artistic or poetic. It is as straightforward, but not quite as succinct, as that of Lee Child in the Reacher novels. He focuses on the plot, the character descriptions, and the realistic and convincing dialogues. There is a chapter in which Allon visits a special patient in a hospital. It is very tender, and very sad. I had to read it twice. It shows that he can, and does, depict emotions and inner thoughts with skill and subtlety.
This is why I describe his writing as workmanlike, or professional. It’s not an insult, or damnation through faint praise. He knows what he’s doing and does it exceptionally well. His style of writing perfectly suits the genre and the story.
“The collector?” “His actual code name is Collector. One word.” “How did he acquire it?” “Rare books. He collects them ravenously. Nominally, he’s an SVR asset, but the SVR doesn’t really handle him.” “Who does?” “The boss of bosses.” “Vladimir Vladimirovich?” Morosov nodded. “Peace be upon him.”
The Collector, by Daniel Silva, p. 133
Recommended?
I would absolutely recommend this novel, and the others in the Gabriel Allon series. It takes quite some skill to write something that is so easy to read yet, at the same time, delivers such a thrill. I’m glad I discovered Silva. You’ll be glad too.
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES 
Until a fellow bookworm told me about Daniel Silva, I did not even know this author existed. I found out that he is very successful, very well-known, and has many best-sellers to his name. He is famous – to those who know – for his thriller and spy novels which have the protagonist, “Gabriel Allon”. Silva has written 23 novels featuring Gabriel Allon. All of them have been best-sellers. “Gabriel Allon” has a full Wikipedia page dedicated to him, would you believe it.
What makes this character interesting, is that he is a former member of Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence and Special Operations service, he is an art restorer, and he is a crack shot. He lives in Venice, serenely and peacefully bringing classical paintings back to life. He is a mixture of a secret service agent, spy, detective, art expert, and general butt-kicking trouble-shooter. His strategizing skills are excellent. He can make a plan that will actually pan out as intended.
I didn’t know any of this when I grabbed the latest book in the series, The Collector, which debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list when it came out on July 18, 2023. (And, not knowing how good it would be, and being really far behind on my reading jobs, I left it on my to-read-heap for more than six months.) Of all the ones written by Silva that were available in the bookshop, I picked this one because the blurb on the back mentioned Johannes Vermeer, and I always like novels with an art theme.
A riveting and current plot
The plot is very current. Like with Chris Hadfield’s The Defector, it’s almost as if Silva knew who was going to be fighting who in 2023. The whole story, especially the descriptions of Vladimir Putin, sounds convincingly – and scarily – realistic.
The story takes place against the background of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gabriel Allon has retired from Israeli intelligence, but he is asked by Italian authorities to look into the theft, from the palatial home of a private collector, of a painting which turns out to be Vermeer’s “The Concert”, which had been missing for over thirty years since it was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
A real painting that really was stolen
The painting in the novel does actually exist, and was actually stolen on March 18, 1990, from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and remains missing to this day. There is an actual art thief and collector out there somewhere who knows where this masterpiece is, and can look at it and admire it every day.
Creator: Jan Vermeer
Date Created: About 1665
Physical Dimensions: w64.7 x h72.5 cm
Stolen in 1990.
Allon tracks down the thief, as well as the wealthy oil executive who commissioned the theft. In the process, he learns about a more important theft, of materials for a nuclear bomb. He recruits the thief and the oil tycoon to steal a deadly secret plan from a Moscow politician.
Writing style fitting for a thriller
This description does not really do justice to how exciting the book is to read, and how easy it is to get into and consume. I literally finished it in a day. Silva is very good at leading the reader along the trajectory of the plot, while at the same, time, dropping just enough hints and directions that the reader does not get confused or lost. He is very good at using the closing line of a chapter to both lead the reader on and drop a clue.
Silva’s prose is not artistic or poetic. It is as straightforward, but not quite as succinct, as that of Lee Child in the Reacher novels. He focuses on the plot, the character descriptions, and the realistic and convincing dialogues. There is a chapter in which Allon visits a special patient in a hospital. It is very tender, and very sad. I had to read it twice. It shows that he can, and does, depict emotions and inner thoughts with skill and subtlety.
This is why I describe his writing as workmanlike, or professional. It’s not an insult, or damnation through faint praise. He knows what he’s doing and does it exceptionally well. His style of writing perfectly suits the genre and the story.
Recommended?
I would absolutely recommend this novel, and the others in the Gabriel Allon series. It takes quite some skill to write something that is so easy to read yet, at the same time, delivers such a thrill. I’m glad I discovered Silva. You’ll be glad too.
Share this: