I just finished reading Daniel Silva’s latest “The Fallen Angel,” which has been on the NYT’s Best Seller List for the last three weeks. I have not read any of Silva’s previous novels in this series, but according to the book jacket, this seemed like the type of spy/mystery story I like.
Th main character Gabriel Allon is an Israeli spy as well as being a noted art restorer. Great combination. He was hired by the secretary to the Pope to restore one of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces, which resides in the Vatican museum. It seems that Allon and the Pope have a previous history, which is alluded to as the novel progresses.
I was definitely intrigued, but as I read further into the story every turn of the plot seemed just too contrived. None of the “good guys” is really ever in real danger; every deadly situation turns out just fine.
I did finish “Fallen Angel” because the last section takes place in Jerusalem, with some very interesting, factual information about the major historical religious sites there.
Perhaps, I should have read an earlier book in this series. Maybe I will, but maybe I’ll just wait for the next Donna Leon or Elizabeth George. Commissaro Guido Brunetti and Thomas Linley are much more fun to read about.
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