Synopsis from Amazon UK:A leading terrorism analyst is found brutally murdered in Amsterdam. The Dutch police believe it is the work of a deranged extremist -- but others know better. Gabriel Allon -- art-restorer, spy, assassin -- is called in to make discreet inquiries. It would seem that the dead man was close to uncovering the plans of a major terrorist operation -- a new threat which no-one could have predicted. The trail leads to London, when a young woman vanishes .... She is the daughter of the American Ambassador -- and goddaughter of the President of the United States -- and the kidnappers' demands are at once horrifically clear and clearly impossible to meet. The President turns to Allon, a man whose abilities he has depended on before ... Allon soon finds himself in a desperate search for the missing woman, and those responsible -- but the truth, when he finds it, is not what he expects. In fact, it is one that will shake him, and many others, to the core.
My rating: 3 stars
My review: Not as good as the previous Gabriel Allon books in plot and writing, which, sad to say, is better than a good number of books currently being published. The main sticking point for me is when the characters lecture each other on foreign policy -- shouldn't they know this already? I do not like the practice some writers have of explaining policy issues to their readers; the characters inevitably end up sounding like some blowhard pundit on a cable news show, oversimplifying the issues while maintaining an unrealistic political stance. In his previous books, Silva has refrained from this practice but, in The Secret Servant, there's continual talk and explanation of the "puppet" regimes in the Middle East (such as in Egypt) and it becomes tiresome. I recommend skipping through these parts if you want to enjoy the book.
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