Reluctant Assassin

Meet Gabriel Allon, reluctant assassin. "The Kill Artist," published in 2000, introduces us to Daniel Silva's popular Gabriel Allon series. Yes, the series gets better as it progresses: "The Kill Artist" is not its best entry. In fact, I think that each entry gets better than the last one, reflecting the growing skill of the author. None-the-less, I still recommend that anyone wishing to listen to the subsequent Gabriel Allon novels should start here, with "The Kill Artist," and then listen to the novels in sequence. The Gabriel Allon character has a lot of complexity, as do the plots of all his adventures. Although Daniel Silva does a good job summarizing all that you need to know for each successive episode, you will still miss out on the richness of this series if you pick it up in the middle. (In fact, I did just that, not knowing any better at the time. Now, I am enjoying going back and listening to the series in the proper order ... and getting so much more out of it than I did the first time 'round.)

Author Daniel Silva is a pretty complex character, himself. Raised in a devoutly Catholic family, he converted to Judaism in adulthood, as a result of his marriage. Now he writes compelling novels about an Israeli Mossad assassin (although, curiously, the Mossad is never mentioned in any of his Gabriel Allon novels -- it is just called "the Office"), in which we learn more than we may have ever wanted to know about the Holocaust, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, international politics, and recent world history. Whether or not these novels suit one's taste in fiction, one cannot deny the deep, penetrating intelligence and profound, cynical knowledge of world events and human nature that emanates from all of Daniel Silva's novels. As some previous reviewers have noted, "The Kill Artist" has some pretty dark aspects to it -- don't buy it for light escape fiction -- but it does offer some intriguing, disturbing, and surprisingly fair-minded insights into current headlines and the human psychology behind them.

George Guidall, as always, does an excellent job narrating "The Kill Artist." He has a lovely, warm, mature voice, that he can adapt into many different characters, including female characters. Although he draws some of his accents from his "generic" bag, he uses a pretty credible French accent for this audiobook.

104 people found this helpful

An Assassin with a conscience

I have had this book on my shelf for some time now and decided to see for myself if Daniel Silva's Israeli assassin, Gabriel Allon, was as good as I have heard. I can honestly say that Gabriel did not fit into my image of an assassin.

As the story begins, a mysterious stranger moves into a old cottage in an isolated English village, Port Navas Cornwall. The first chapter is told from the viewpoint of Peel, a boy of around 10, who had also recently moved to the village with his mother. Therefore, it takes several chapters to find out the stranger is Gabriel Allon.

Gabriel was a world renowned art restorer, the cover job he had in order to hide the fact that he worked for the Israeli intelligence service. However, he "retired" from the clandestine service nearly 10 years previously when a terrorist he was contracted to take out placed a bomb under his car, killing his son and turning his wife into an empty shell. After that, Gabriel went into a self imposed exile and immersed himself into restoring paintings in the hope of forgetting the past.

Then the Israeli ambassador and his wife are killed by terrorists in Paris, and Ari Shamron, head of the intelligence service, discovers the assassin was none other than Tariq, the Palestinian who destroyed Gabriel's family. Shamron trusts no one, and secretly goes to England to bring Gabriel back for one more mission. Gabriel can not refuse, even though he knows killing Tariq will not bring his family back.

In other novels featuring assassins, they tend to be cold and calculating, justifying their actions by believing the target deserved to die for their transgressions. Gabriel, however, has flashbacks and feels guilty for what he has done. Benjamin Stone, a wealthy backer of the Israeli operation, describes Gabriel as "an assassin with a conscience."

Given all the baggage Gabriel is carrying around, I had my doubts as to whether he would be an effective assassin. Add in the fact that he has been inactive for nearly 10 years and he was at a distinct disadvantage.

I thought the book started out slowly, but it gradually picked up its pace before finally reaching its climax. But even after the climax, there were more plot twists which tied the story into a neat little ball. Gabriel seemed to enjoy restoring paintings much more than his other line of work. Therefor, this is not the typical testosterone filled prose that one would associate with a story about an assassin, but rather paints a softer, more human side of the occupation.

There are several more books in the series, so I am anxious to find out what would bring him out of retirement again

34 people found this helpful

Watch the language

Would you listen to The Kill Artist again? Why?

I enjoyed the book, the story, and the performance. However, the repeated and unnecessary use of the f-bomb ruined the listen for me. The book and the author came highly recommended, but I was listening with my wife and the language was highly offensive.

Would you be willing to try another book from Daniel Silva? Why or why not?

I'll watch other reviews, and might possibly try again; but it will be a while.

11 people found this helpful

why didn't i enjoy this book more?

I can't quite put my finger on the problem. I expected to become fully engaged by the story and enthralled by the narration, but it just didn't happen.

The story should have elicited some excitement, suspense, tension, but it just seem to drone on. George Guidall is one of the best readers in the business but perhaps his voice is now too soft to narrate a thriller or perhaps even the great Guidall couldn't instill life into this story. Either way, this listen was a bit of a disappointment.

This is the second Daniel Silva I've downloaded - I also listened to Death in Vienna - and it was the author's second chance because I do love spy/thrillers. Still, there are better books out there and better ways to spend a credit. Keep looking. Don't settle for merely OK.

41 people found this helpful

Artless Killing

I recently read a later entry in Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series and chalked up its problems to the author going stale and mailing in the fourteenth episode. I said I would give it another try, and went back to the beginning, the first one, in which the Israeli superspy is lured out of retirement to hunt down the Arab terrorist who bombed his family way back when and is now hellbent on destroying the nascent Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

I'm left with the same two problems: Allon has got to the be the Worst. Spy. Ever. And Silva from the start violated one of the cardinal rules of plotting (as espoused by master storyteller and writing teacher Robert McKee) by having characters execute a far more complex plan than is necessary to achieve their goals.

As for Allon, the back story before this novel even starts is his massive failure that left his son dead and wife in a vegetative state. Brought back to kill the terrorist who did that, he totally fails, allowing himself to be trapped and manipulated from start to finish by multiple characters, ending up shot by the terrorist he is supposed to shoot. The two people he is supposed to protect end up saving themselves despite his failure to do so himself, one of them even completing his mission for him. Allon even admits as much at the end.

As if that wasn't bad enough (bad enough to knock the story down to three stars, not two), the final reveal undermines the entire story. The whole thing turns out to be an elaborate scheme that was never necessary. Trying to avoid spoilers, the plot point used to lure Allon out of retirement was sufficient to complete the mission against the terrorist before he could ever do any harm, before the timeline of the book even begins, before Allon is ever needed (not that he is actually needed either way, since he is a total failure).

The only thing left of value is the recap of some of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, challenging some long-accepted beliefs, and laying the groundwork for some of the compromises that have indeed taken place since the publication of the book. Unfortunately, the way most of that is delivered within the storyline is also undermined by the final reveal.

I am by no means a fan of the indestructible superspy. I like that Allon is fallible and human. There is room there for a lot of good stuff. But honestly, in this book he literally fails at every single thing he undertakes and is repeatedly duped by everyone, just as in The Heist he fails in his primary mission and only fulfills his secondary mission in the epilogue by revisiting the first clue he got, which he overlooked at the time (because had he pursued it, the rest of the story would have been moot).

I'm sorry, but the progression of a plot has to be plausible, you can't have people do random things just to get the story to follow the path you want it to follow.

23 people found this helpful

A poor showing by a good author

Would you try another book from Daniel Silva and/or George Guidall?

I listened to a newer work by Silva and loved it. So I went back to the beginning and was horribly disappointed.

What was most disappointing about Daniel Silva’s story?

Sliva uses constant profanity to try and demonstrate the tough grittiness of his characters. Simply showing us who they are would be much more effective. The constant use of "F***" as well as the excessive sexuality distract from and weaken the story line to the point that I finally quit listening half way through.

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

George Guidall gives a fine performance and is easy to listen to. He is one of the better readers I have heard. His voicing for various characters is appropriate, consistent and well done. Silva's story lines move rapidly from character to character and Guidall's voicing of various characters makes the action easier to follow.

Any additional comments?

I am glad that I listened to a more recent Silva novel first. Silva has learned how to richly develop a hard, gritty character without resorting to trite use of profanity and obscenity. Unfortunately he didn't learn this early enough in life to save this book.

55 people found this helpful

For those wondering...

What James Bond would be like if he were written by Charles Dickens look no further.

A retired Israeli agent is coerced into service in order to take down his arch nemesis. He whines throughout the book and has to be rescued by his ex-girlfriend at literally every turn.

How this spawned a series is beyond me.

#tagsgiving #sweepstakes

17 people found this helpful

I coldn't stay with the story

I made it through 13 chapters thinking it would get better. Maybe it is the english accents, more likely it is the story going so many directions I found it distracting. I got bored, instead of visualizing the story as it progressed... I would be off thinking of other things and find I'd missed sections. Point is, the people and story just isn't that interesting, although it had promise. Maybe there is just to much background story that isn't that interesting.

11 people found this helpful

Excellent start to a great espionage series!

Before releasing The Kill Artist and thus beginning the great 15 novel Gabriel Allon series in the year 2000 Daniel Silva, an ex journalist, released three earlier novels.

The Kill Artist begins after a car bomb planted by a terrorist kills Gabriel Allon's young son and nearly kills his wife, leaving her a physical and mental/emotional invalid who must be institutionalized for the rest of her life. Allon has two occupations: The top art restorer in the world and the top assassin for a secret Israeli security organization known only as The Office. In the Kill Artist Allon and The Office seek to bring the man who destroyed the lives of Allon's family in Vienna to justice.

Protagonists in great espionage thrillers are all different. Gabriel Allon is the most reluctant. On a "humanity scale" Allon is the must human in terms of emotion and reluctance to kill. On the other end of the scale would be British author Tom Wood's Victor the Assassin who is totally devoid of humanity.

All of the Gabriel Allon novels are excellent (4 or more star), but they are not all consistently 5 star. Part of that is due to inconsistent narration. George Guidall narrates The Kill Artist as well as all of the series beginning with book 12. Guidall is wonderful. Books 2 - 11 used 4 different narrators some of whom are not nearly as good as Guidall.

Book 16 of the Gabriel Allon series, The Black Widow, is now available for pre-order at Audible.

I highly recommend The Kill Artist and all of Daniel Silva's novels in the Gabriel Allon series without reservation to all who enjoy great espionage thriller series.

17 people found this helpful

Very good but to dark for me

Any additional comments?

I know most people who love Vince Flynn/Alex Berenson books love Daniel Silva. I've read and listened to a few and while I do appreciate the realism in his books I also am a bit turned off by the darkness that tends to be in them. Also a lot of sex scenes tend to be described in his books. I leave 4 stars as I did mostly enjoy the book and I love George Guidall. 4 stars because I think he is a very talented writer but he's just not for me.

15 people found this helpful