One of the very best

I have been reading thriller spy books since I read my first James Bond in 1962. While I am by no means an expert, I have read most of the really good ones over the years and lots of very bad ones. I started reading Daniel Silva 2 years ago. I have generally liked his work but he truly captured me with his Isreal spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon. Allon and his mentor Ari Shamron of the Isreali secret service are a great team. Allon appears in at least 8 Audible books and they are all good.

The Secret Servant is not just good it is one of the best I have read over these many years. There are enough plot turns and twists to satisfy even the most demanding thriller fan. The good guys are good but always with a trace of bad. The bad guys are bad but don't fully fit that mold either. Lots of killing and other bad stuff but intermixed is some of the most thoughtful discussion of the Isreal/Palestine conflict I have seen in a long time. The discussion is almost philosophical at times but compliments the action and makes you think about both sides of a very complicated issue, something most of us don't do very often. The book has at least three satisfying conclusions and leaves you wanting a fourth. This is in my judgment one of the best thrillers ever written. The narration is excellent.

This book leaves you wanting Silva to write another Allon adventure and he did. I am now reading Moscow Rules and it is shaping up to be another great one. I am sure any of Allon adventures could be read in any order but I would advise starting with the Prince of Fire, then The Messenger and then to Secret Servant. There are earlier books also but these three seem to form a nice trilogy.

58 people found this helpful

Skip this book but not he series

I am sure Mr Silva worked very hard on this book and it is probably very discouraging to see it RUINED by a poor narrator. Mr. Gigante just does not have the voice range to pull this book off. He does an ok sounding Scandinavian accent but the rest have no differentiation.
To the publisher: QUIT WASTING MR. SILVA'S TIME AND TALENT, just PLEASE get decent narrators to do his books.....PLEASE!!!!!
To the listener: Skip this series to the books narrated by George Guidall.

7 people found this helpful

Narrater is terrible!!

I am very unhappy with this narrator. He cannot pronounce Jewish names.. Calls Alie Lavon "Ali" as in Mohammed, etc. Very distracting. I will have to read this one on Kindle. Sigh. Voice is too gravely and deep also. ICK

3 people found this helpful

Painfully-narrated dialogue

Terrible narration. He did okay on the exposition, but the dialogue was ridiculous and painful. I don't know why they keep switching actors for this series, but i hope this was his only appearance.

3 people found this helpful

The Best I've Read in Thirty Years

I have been looking to get back to my beloved spy fiction genre. I cannot stand the Ludlum ghost writing and other tricks of the yarn. I downloaded the Prince of Fire first because a reviewer recommended it as the starting book. I have been hooked ever since.
The Secret Servant is one of the very best spy novels Ihave ever read or listened to. I am so hooked on Daniel Silva and his Gabriel Allon that I cannot wait to download Moscow Rules. I have become a begin Silva fan. His amazing treatment of the Arab Israeli conflict and the Middle east is very nuanced and insightful. The complxity of the issues fills the many plot twists and moves the narrative at a fast pace.
I highly recommend this book as part three. But I suggest you start at the Prince of Fire and then The Messenger. You will not be disappointed.

6 people found this helpful

Great book by a great author; weak narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

No offense to the narrator, but I've listened to many audiobooks and many better narrators are out there.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator lacks a range of vocal control that would make this far better. His accents are terrible, and the voices he fakes really are weak. They sound amateurish and some are too similar to others to make them feel comfortably like a distinct character.

Do you think The Secret Servant needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I'm a fan of the Gabriel Allon series, and will keep on going.

2 people found this helpful

Mindless fun, will listen to others

What did you like best about The Secret Servant? What did you like least?

The story kept moving along. No stagnant portions.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Was satisfying in a somewhat expected fashion

Did Phil Gigante do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Good narration

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably on cable

4 people found this helpful

A little too predictable.

Perhaps I should listen again to this one, because I had trouble liking the hero and became uninterested in the ending. Sometimes this happens when I am not listening close enough to a book.

4 people found this helpful

exciting, continued twists and turns

This is a good followup story in this series. As usual the authors clean and clear descriptions of the geography allows you to feel like you are there. The geopolitical message continues to be relevent encased into an exciting story.

4 people found this helpful

Boring with superfluous detail

The reader made a mediocre book even worse which was not up to the usual Silva standard.

1 person found this helpful