The Other Woman (Gabriel Allon #18)
written by Daniel Silva
Unabridged Audio, Harper Audio
read by George Guidall
Visit Daniel Silva online
My Review:
Over the last decade plus I have only missed two of Silva's novels in this series. I enjoy Gabriel Allon. It's fun to spend time with him and catch up on what has been happening in his life. Allon is one of the best fictional characters in the spy-thriller genre today. Three-dimensional, flawed, and caring. He seems so normal. Yet at the same time, Gabriel Allon is a serious butt-kicking-dude.
Silva has taken a step back in The Other Woman. Shying away from all the fireworks. Gone are the high energy, big bangs, and bombings. Instead, The Other Woman is a psychological thriller. Allon is on the hunt for a mole, hidden in plain sight. . . within the top ranks of the super elite MI6. But outing a mole, especially of this caliber will require Allon to learn the circumstances that have kept the spy's very existence a secret all these years. And so the hunt for the only woman that can answer these hot-button questions begins.
This isn't the high-octane stories we've come to expect from Silva as of late. But rather a return to his roots. It is satisfying to see Silva go back in time to his early successes with Gabriel Allon. I didn't mind the slower, methodical pacing, nor did I miss the often over-the-top action sequences. My only complaint with this story is - where was the everyday normalcy of life? Where was his wife, the twins, his team? I was hoping after 2017's incredible House of Spies that in the year-long wait Allon would have grown, issues or harmonious family relations, encountered financial woe, anything really. The stuff that makes Allon believable, relatable, and loveable.
But this is a minor gaff in an otherwise stellar performance. Daniel Silva is one of the finest story-tellers alive today. His ability to weave a fictional story around a historical event is what made me a fan of his work. Just like here, in The Other Woman, an intelligence agent at the top of Britain's MI6 spying for Russia - sound familiar? Of course, it sounds like Kim Philby of the Cambridge Five. He was also the inspiration for le Carre's upper-class traitor in 1974's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Throughout the story there are thinly veiled comments, many of them daggers, aimed at The President. Yet another indication of the current political climate.
The audio edition is narrated by George Guidall. One of the finest vocal performers today. Guidall uses pitch, tone, inflection, and pace to not only bring the characters to life but to give each an individualized sound. Guidall's smooth transitions and accents set the scenes from Vienna to D.C. The dialogue was given a big boost with Guidall delivering it. I love Silva novels and look forward to them every year. If you are hooked on the big action of recent novels, you may feel disappointed. But if you love a genuine spy novel, you'll enjoy it.
The Other Woman is written in classic spy story style, reminding me of the master of spy novels, John le Carre'. I cannot think of a finer compliment to give Daniel Silva.
Happy Listening,
RJ
Kim Philby - Cambridge Five
Synopsis:
She was his best-kept secret …
In an isolated village in the mountains of Andalusia, a mysterious Frenchwoman begins work on a dangerous memoir. It is the story of a man she once loved in the Beirut of old, and a child taken from her in treason’s name. The woman is the keeper of the Kremlin’s most closely guarded secret. Long ago, the KGB inserted a mole into the heart of the West—a mole who stands on the doorstep of ultimate power.
Only one man can unravel the conspiracy: Gabriel Allon, the legendary art restorer and assassin who serves as the chief of Israel’s vaunted secret intelligence service. Gabriel has battled the dark forces of the new Russia before, at great personal cost. Now he and the Russians will engage in a final epic showdown, with the fate of the postwar global order hanging in the balance.
Gabriel is lured into the hunt for the traitor after his most important asset inside Russian intelligence is brutally assassinated while trying to defect in Vienna. His quest for the truth will lead him backward in time, to the twentieth century’s greatest act of treason, and, finally, to a spellbinding climax along the banks of the Potomac River outside Washington that will leave readers breathless.
Thank you to Harper Audio for the opportunity to read, review, and feature Daniel Silva's new novel - The Other Woman.
Also available in HardCoverAuthor: Daniel Silva
Series: Gabriel Allon #18
Pages: 496 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 147678941X
Publisher: Harper
Series: Gabriel Allon #18
Pages: 496 (Hardcover)
ISBN: 147678941X
Publisher: Harper
