Spy and art expert Gabriel Allon, officially retired from the Israeli intelligence service after a nearly fatal assignment, is safely ensconced inside the Vatican restoring a Caravaggio when a young female antiquities curator falls to her death at St. Peter's Basilica. The police call it suicide, but the pope's private secretary asks Allon to discreetly investigate. It's the ideal setup for a mystery, especially when looted antiquarian treasures, the Mafia, and money laundering are added to the mix. And before long, Allon's mentor arrives on the scene in an attempt to lure him back into the spy game. Initially narrator George Guidall's deep baritone sounds a bit too avuncular for Allon. But as the audiobook progresses, his rendition of the character becomes stronger and takes on a hint of weary cynicism. Guidall's accented interpretations of Vatican officials, Israeli spies, and even a Frenchman or two prove entirely convincing. And his pacing—especially as events unfold leading to yet another of race against time for Allon—ideally complements Silva's suspenseful novel. A Harper paperback. (July)
The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon Series #12)
Narrated by George Guidall
Daniel SilvaUnabridged — 10 hours, 27 minutes
The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon Series #12)
Narrated by George Guidall
Daniel SilvaUnabridged — 10 hours, 27 minutes
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Overview
Art restorer, assassin, spy-Gabriel Allon returns in The Fallen Angel, another blockbuster espionage thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva. The acclaimed author of Portrait of a Spy, Silva (“a world class practitioner of spy fiction” -Washington Post) is an undisputed master of the genre who has brought “new life to the international thriller” (Newsday).
A breathtaking adventure that races around the globe, The Fallen Angel begins in Rome, where Allon is called upon to investigate a murder at the Vatican, one with disastrous repercussions that could plunge the world into a conflict of apocalyptic proportions. If you haven't yet been drawn into Daniel Silva's thrilling universe of intrigue, danger, and exceptional spycraft, start here-and see why the Philadelphia Inqurer declares that, “The enigmatic Gabriel Allon remains one of the most intriguing heroes of any thriller series.”
Editorial Reviews
It’s become almost obligatory for lovers of high level thrillers to read each new Daniel Silva novel as soon as it appears. With his by now trademark character, Gabriel Allon...Silva just about guarantees a couple of days of terrific entertainment.” — NPR, All Things Considered
“Daniel Silva’s The Fallen Angel soars with authenticity….The Fallen Angel delivers the goods….Riveting espionage adventures that have timely, real-world relevance.” — Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Meticulously researched....The Fallen Angel is a first-class spy mystery painted on a grand scale.” — Columbus Dispatch
“His past 12 books, all featuring enigmatic spy/art restorer Gabriel Allon, have kept Silva’s name high in the ranks; the latest, the Vatican-set The Fallen Angel, seems unlikely to reverse the trend.” — Arizona Republic
“Another heart-pounding escapade of art restorer and Israeli intelligence legend Gabriel Allon gets masterful treatment.” — AudioFile Magazine
Meticulously researched....The Fallen Angel is a first-class spy mystery painted on a grand scale.
His past 12 books, all featuring enigmatic spy/art restorer Gabriel Allon, have kept Silva’s name high in the ranks; the latest, the Vatican-set The Fallen Angel, seems unlikely to reverse the trend.
Daniel Silva’s The Fallen Angel soars with authenticity….The Fallen Angel delivers the goods….Riveting espionage adventures that have timely, real-world relevance.
Another heart-pounding escapade of art restorer and Israeli intelligence legend Gabriel Allon gets masterful treatment.
It’s become almost obligatory for lovers of high level thrillers to read each new Daniel Silva novel as soon as it appears. With his by now trademark character, Gabriel Allon...Silva just about guarantees a couple of days of terrific entertainment.
Meticulously researched....The Fallen Angel is a first-class spy mystery painted on a grand scale.
It’s become almost obligatory for lovers of high level thrillers to read each new Daniel Silva novel as soon as it appears. With his by now trademark character, Gabriel Allon...Silva just about guarantees a couple of days of terrific entertainment.
His past 12 books, all featuring enigmatic spy/art restorer Gabriel Allon, have kept Silva’s name high in the ranks; the latest, the Vatican-set The Fallen Angel, seems unlikely to reverse the trend.
Daniel Silva’s The Fallen Angel soars with authenticity….The Fallen Angel delivers the goods….Riveting espionage adventures that have timely, real-world relevance.
"It’s become almost obligatory for lovers of high level thrillers to read each new Daniel Silva novel as soon as it appears. With his by now trademark character, Gabriel Allon...Silva just about guarantees a couple of days of terrific entertainment."
“It’s become almost obligatory for lovers of high level thrillers to read each new Daniel Silva novel as soon as it appears. With his by now trademark character, Gabriel Allon...Silva just about guarantees a couple of days of terrific entertainment.
New York Times best-selling author Silva has written another exciting thriller featuring Gabriel Alon and his beautiful wife, Ari Shomron, and other members of Israel's antiterrorist group. When a young Vatican antiquities curator is found dead on the floor of the Sistine Chapel, Monsignor Luigi Donati, the Pope's private secretary, asks Gabriel to lead a quiet investigation of what the monsignor believes to be a murder, not a suicide as claimed by the police. Gabriel's investigation uncovers a horrific terrorist plot to destroy one of the world's holiest sites. Award-winning reader George Guidall gives an excellent and nuanced performance. His accents are believable, and his Hebrew pronunciation is accurate. VERDICT Recommended for fans of Silva's hero as well as thriller lovers and anyone who enjoyed fare like The Da Vinci Code. [The HarperCollins hc was a New York Times best seller.—Ed.]—Ilka Gordon, Aaron Garber Lib., Cleveland
Another heart-pounding escapade of art restorer and Israeli intelligence legend Gabriel Allon gets masterful treatment by George Guidall. Silva's captivating series (this is the twelfth Allon title) has had no fewer than 12 narrators. The choice of this casting allows Guidall a reprise since the first Allon title, THE KILL ARTIST. German, Israeli, and Italian characters and accents are all expertly handled without artifice and with the natural expression that makes each wholly believable. Details of the art treasures, stolen Etruscan artifacts, and the archaeology of Jerusalem weave through Allon's investigation of the death of a Vatican art curator and a hidden plot to unleash terror and destruction. Returning characters, getting perfect vocal portraits, will engage fans, but this series can be entered at any point. Start now with Guidall and never look back. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Fast-paced action thriller from old hand Silva (Portrait of a Spy, 2001, etc.), whose hero Gabriel Allon returns in fine form. As Silva's legion of fans--including, it seems, every policy wonk inside the Beltway and Acela Corridor--knows, Gabriel is not just your ordinary spy. He's a capable assassin, for one thing, and a noted art restorer for another, which means that his adventures often find him in the presence of immortal works of art and bad guys who would put them to bad use. This newest whodunit is no exception: Gabriel's in the Vatican, working away at a Caravaggio, when he gets caught up in an anomalous scene--as a friendly Jesuit puts it with considerable understatement, "We have a problem." The problem is that another Vatican insider has gone splat on the mosaic floor, having fallen some distance from the dome. Did she jump, or was she pushed? Either way, as the victim's next of kin puts it, again with considerable understatement, "I'm afraid my sister left quite a mess." She did indeed, and straightening it up requires Gabriel to grapple with baddies in far-flung places around Europe and the Middle East. It would be spoiling things to go too deep into what he finds, but suffice it to say that things have been going missing from the Vatican's collections to fund a variety of nefarious activities directly and indirectly, including some ugly terrorism out Jerusalem way. But set Gabriel to scaling flights of Herodian stairs, and the mysteries fall into place--not least of them the location of a certain structure built for a certain deity by a certain biblical fellow. The plot's a hoot, but a believable one; think a confection by Umberto Eco as starring Jonathan Hemlock, or a Dan Brown yarn intelligently plotted and written, and you'll have a sense of what Silva is up to here. It's a grand entertainment to watch Silva putting Gabriel Allon's skills to work, whether shedding blood or daubing varnish. A top-notch thriller.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940173661029 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 07/17/2012 |
| Series: | Gabriel Allon Series |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Sales rank: | 490,355 |
Read an Excerpt
The Fallen Angel
By Daniel Silva
HarperCollins Publishers
Copyright © 2013 Daniel SilvaAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-06-207315-0
1
VATICAN CITY
It was NiccolÃ? Moretti, caretaker of St. Peter's
Basilica, who made the discovery that started it
all. The time was 6:24 a.m., but owing to a wholly
innocent error of transcription, the Vatican's first
official statement incorrectly reported it as 6:42.
It was one of numerous missteps, large and small,
that would lead many to conclude the Holy See had
something to hide, which was indeed the case. The
Roman Catholic Church, said a noteworthy dissi-
dent, was but one scandal away from oblivion. The
last thing His Holiness needed now was a dead body
in the sacred heart of Christendom.
A scandal was the last thing NiccolÃ? Moretti had
been expecting to find that morning when he ar-
rived at the Vatican one hour earlier than his usual
time. Dressed in dark trousers and a knee-length
gray coat, he was scarcely visible as he hurried across
the darkened piazza toward the steps of the Basilica.
Glancing to his right, he saw lights burning in the
third-floor windows of the Apostolic Palace. His
Holiness Pope Paul VII was already awake. Moretti
4 DANIEL S I LVA
wondered whether the Holy Father had slept at all.
The Vatican was swirling with rumors he was suffer-
ing from a crippling bout of insomnia, that he spent
most nights writing in his private study or walk-
ing alone in the gardens. The caretaker had seen it
before. Eventually, they all lost the ability to sleep.
Moretti heard voices behind him and, turning,
saw a pair of Curial priests materialize from the
gloom. They were engaged in animated conversa-
tion and paid him no heed as they marched toward
the Bronze Doors and melted once more into
the shadows. The children of Rome called them
bagarozzi—black beetles. Moretti had used the word
once as a child and had been scolded by none other
than Pope Pius XII. He'd never said it since. When
one is chastised by the Vicar of Christ, he thought
now, one rarely repeats the same offense.
He hiked up the steps of the Basilica and slipped
into the portico. Five doors led into the nave. All
were sealed except for the one at the far left, the
Door of Death. In the opening stood Father Jacobo,
an emaciated-looking Mexican cleric with strawlike
gray hair. He stepped aside so Moretti could enter,
then closed the door and lowered the heavy bar. “I'll
come back at seven to let in your men,” the priest
said. “Be careful up there, NiccolÃ?. You're not as
young as you used to be.”
The priest withdrew. Moretti dipped his fingers
in holy water and made the sign of the cross before
setting out up the center of the vast nave. Where
others might have paused to gaze in awe, Moretti
forged on with the familiarity of a man entering his
own home. As chief of the sampietrini, the official
T H E FA L L E N A N G E L 5
caretakers of the Basilica, he had been coming to
St. Peter's six mornings a week for the past twenty-
seven years. It was because of Moretti and his men
that the Basilica glowed with heaven's light while
the other great churches of Europe seemed forever
shrouded in darkness. Moretti considered himself
not only a servant of the papacy but a partner in
the enterprise. The popes were entrusted with the
care of one billion Roman Catholic souls, but it was
NiccolÃ? Moretti who looked after the mighty Ba-
silica that symbolized their earthly power. He knew
every square inch of the building, from the peak of
Michelangelo's dome to the depths of the crypt—all
forty-four altars, twenty-seven chapels, eight hun-
dred columns, four hundred statues, and three hun-
dred windows. He knew where it was cracked and
where it leaked. He knew when it was feeling well
and when it was in pain. The Basilica, when it spoke,
whispered into the ear of NiccolÃ? Moretti.
St. Peter's had a way of shrinking mere mor-
tals, and Moretti, as he made his way toward the
Papal Altar in the gray coat of his uniform, looked
remarkably like a thimble come to life. He genu-
flected before the Confessio and then tilted his face
skyward. Soaring nearly one hundred feet above
him was the baldacchino, four twisting columns
of bronze and gold crowned by a majestic canopy.
On that morning, it was partially concealed by an
aluminum scaffolding. Bernini's masterpiece, with
its ornate figures and sprigs of olive and bay, was a
magnet for dust and smoke. Every year, in the week
preceding the beginning of Lent, Moretti and his
men gave it a thorough cleaning. The Vatican was
6 DANIEL S I LVA
a place of timeless ritual, and there was ritual, too,
in the cleaning of the baldacchino. Laid down by
Moretti himself, it stated that once the scaffolding
was in place, he was always the first to scale it. The
view from the summit was one that only a handful
of people had ever seen—and NiccolÃ? Moretti, as
chief of the sampietrini, demanded the privilege of
beholding it first.
Moretti climbed to the pinnacle of the front
column, then, after attaching his safety line, inched
his way on all fours up the slope of the canopy. At the
very apex of the baldacchino was a globe supported
by four ribs and crowned by a cross. Here was the
most sacred spot in the Roman Catholic Church,
the vertical axis running from the exact center of
the dome straight down into the Tomb of St. Peter.
It represented the very idea on which the enterprise
rested. You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my
church. As the first crepuscular rays of light illumi-
nated the interior of the Basilica, Moretti, faithful
servant of the popes, could almost feel the finger of
God tapping him on the shoulder.
As usual, time slipped from his grasp.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Fallen Angel by Daniel Silva. Copyright © 2013 Daniel Silva. Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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