The Hunt Continues

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, very well written and interesting story.

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

George is a master! All his performances are awesome!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes

Any additional comments?

It’s July again and that means the time has come for another Gabriel Allon adventure from the #1 New York Times Best-selling and award-winning thriller author Daniel Silva. This year’s book is the 17th in this amazing series of thrillers and it’s called House of Spies.

House of Spies comes on the heels of the highly successful The Black Widow and picks up four months after the events portrayed in that unputdownable work of fiction. Gabriel Allon and the supporting cast of much loved of characters are back for another heart pounding adventure in the treacherous world of espionage, terrorists, drug dealers and assassin’s.

Gabriel is now head of the secret organization called The Office and he has to put an end to a series of terrorist attacks orchestrated all over the world by the elusive ISIS mastermind, Saladin. We’ve made Saladin’s acquaintance in The Black Widow and after some unresolved dealings between him and The Office the chase continues with even more intensity in House of Spies. The plot moves swiftly from old London to celebrities filled Paris, from historical Israel to the powerful United States, from a peaceful village in Corsica to Morocco‘s dangerous Casablanca. We have trained spies, deadly special operators, unwilling accomplices, hateful terrorists, innocent victims and a very scary plot seemingly out of today’s news…

Once you start reading, or listening, you won’t want to stop! I finished Gabriel‘s latest adventure in just two listening sessions and and at the end I was left wanting for more!

House of Spies is brought to life as a great audiobook by one of the best actors, voice over artists and narrators in the Audiobooks Industry. His name is George Guidall and if you are familiar with the Audies Awards you’ll probably remember that he won one Audie two years ago as Best Male Narrator of the Year for his performance of The English Spy: Gabriel Allon, book 15, also by Daniel Silva.

George Guidall delivers House of Spies in a calm, soothing and familiar cadence. He uses many different voices and always appropriate accents for all the characters and by doing so it keeps everyone clearly differentiated in the listener’s mind. You will just know who is speaking by the French, Israeli, British or Arabic accents employed in his excellent performance. He is one of my favourites narrators of all times and in my mind he is Gabriel Allon, Sheriff Walt Longmire, Mitch Rapp and The Gunslinger from the Dark Tower series. It feels like I listened to George Guidall my entire life, although there are probably just 12 or 13 years, I love his reading style and I consider him part of my beloved family of narrators with whom I spend long and satisfying hours every day!

Daniel Silva is one of my favorite thriller and espionage authors and he continues to deliver great entertainment with his latest novel, House of Spies, which I highly recommend to everyone familiar with his works and to those who want a good thriller in the likes of Mark Greaney, Robert Ludlum Tom Clancy and Vince Flynn.

Please vote Yes below if you found my review helpful or interesting and visit theAudiobookBlog dot com to read more of them.

Thank you,
Victor

62 people found this helpful

YES! This is what I want and expect!

I have read or listened to every one of the books in this series. And this is why. There were a couple lately that weren't as good as previous ones but this one is definitely a 5 star. And there isn't enough to say about George Guidall...the perfect narrator. Perfect.

16 people found this helpful

Same story since first Silvia book.

Weak premise. Last five books are a rehashing of Gabriel Alon's life. Need to be more creative rather than repeating same old thing.

5 people found this helpful

Lots of telling

Action interspersed among lots of telling. Overall it bogs. Even George Guidall's talented reading couldn't overcome the "telling" drag.

10 people found this helpful

Good.. but was expecting more...

I always look forward to Silva and his "Gabriel Allon" series. This book for me was a little slow in getting into the heart of the book. All of the other books were of Gabriel doing what he does best...being a spy and doing the grunt work. Now he is more or less behind the desk which to me sort of takes the drama away...his mystique. Still enjoyed the book though.

4 people found this helpful

Just ok

I've heard much better, prefer older stories. For such an elusive enemy, Saladin was caught too easily...

4 people found this helpful

Not Silva's best, but okay

If you could sum up House of Spies in three words, what would they be?

Recycled material throughout

If you’ve listened to books by Daniel Silva before, how does this one compare?

It's not in the top 5. It's okay and still entertaining, but is really full or materials and situations recycled from previous works. About the only real new material is the current situations around the world woven in.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

George Guidall is one of my favorite performers. He has amazing range and an incredible array of voices. Always seems to get his timing and phrasing to match what is happening in the book. Once you have listened to a lot of his performances, you sometimes have to stop and think what book you are in. "Wait a minute, did the Cheyenne Nation just speak to Gabriel Allon?"

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really. Mostly predictable, especially since using the same "setup" of house and personnel on the Riviera.

Any additional comments?

This has been a lengthy series, so it is inevitable that things will get recycled due to the nature of Gabriel Allon and his position, but I think Silva could have pushed the envelope a bit more.

6 people found this helpful

Christopher Keller returns as Peter Morrow

Christopher Keller first showed up in Book 2 of the Gabriel Allon series as an Allon nemesis the English assassin living on Corsica and working for a crime boss. He returned as a lead character in Book 15 as the English spy not quite completely reformed. He returns again as a lead character in this novel, Book 17 in the series, this time as Peter Morrow a British espionage agent.

One of the things I like about Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series is the frequently reappearing characters. Archeologist and best surveillance artist ever Eli Lavon appears inmost of the Allon novels. London art dealer Julian Isherwood appears in many. Leader of The Office, and the man who recruited Gabriel Allon into Israeli intelligence, Ari Shamron appears in all as the wise old leader. Uzi Navolt appears in most of the series novels and is Allon's competitor to lead The Office when Shamron retires (he does lead for a while). Allon's tragic first wife Leah appears again and again. Chiara first appears as a member of Allon's team and is now his second wife. .Mikhail Abramov the good looking Russian Jew also called Gabriel without a conscience appears repeatedly as a team member. CIA agent Sarah Bancroft appear in several books as a member of Allon's team and became the long time girlfriend of Mikhail. Dina Sarid was injured by a Palestinian bomb before joining the office and is now an expert on terrorism. Rimona Stern, Shamron's niece, is an intelligene expert often assigned to the team. Then there is CIA operations director Adrian Carter and MI5 deputy Graham Seymour who often interface with Allon. There are several other repeating characters.

In House of Spies we find that Gabriel Allon has assumed the leadership of The Office and that he and his wife Chiara now have two young children. We also learn that even as head of The Office, Allon is still going to get his hands dirty; Gabriel does not stay in his office but actually leads the three nation team out to find and kill a terrorist who in intent on setting off a dirty bomb in London.

House of Spies is an outstanding espionage suspense novel and is a great addition to the Gabriel Allon series. George Guidall narrates superbly as usual.

16 people found this helpful

Couldn't understand anything.

Very poor enunciation. The narrator spoke in a very garbled and confusing way. His words often ran together and he was difficult to understand. Too fast and not clear enough.

2 people found this helpful

No way to improve on Gabriel and the office

I have so come to love ALL of the regular characters in Daniel Silvia's novels. One of the marks of a great author (think john Grisham jack Higgins Jamie ford ) is the ability to keep the reader so interested without sexual scenes and profanity especially using the Lords name in vain I can't say this book was his best only because everyone is the best one I don't see how he can improve. The action is so thrilling I stay up late at nite listening. Note to Daniel Silvia: please don't let any of the main characters die as I have so much invested in them

8 people found this helpful