With his 25th book, and the 22nd installment of the wildly successful Gabriel Allon series, bestselling author Daniel Silva has put a new and decidedly different spin on this latest thriller that is set against the backdrop of international intrigue. The legendary Gabriel Allon, former art restorer and international assassin who became the director of the Mossad, Israel’s vaunted intelligence service, has finally severed his ties with the spy world. He has retired to a luxurious apartment in Venice that overlooks the picturesque Grand Canal.

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FAST FACTS

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TITLE

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

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Author

Daniel Silva

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Publisher

HarperCollins

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Hardcover

448 Pages

$29.99

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In the timeless water city, Gabriel has made the decision to return to where, in a long-ago life, he studied art and became a renowned restorer of the great works of the world’s master painters. He is content to finally leave the death and violence of the intelligence world behind in favor of living a new quiet and peaceful life with his beautiful wife, Chiara, and their two children.

His game plan is, after spending weeks recovering from a bullet wound that had left him clinically dead for several minutes (in the last book, The Cellist), to once again immerse himself completely in the art world, and return to what, for him, has always been a labor of love. Gabriel is at peace with himself, and he is content to pass his days quietly wandering through the ancient streets and alleyways of the magical Italian city that is his new home; a setting where he can, at last, finally banish the demons of his dark, bloody and violent past.

This new life suddenly appears to be a bit of an illusion when Gabriel’s long-time friend and colleague, the eccentric and eminently likeable British art dealer, Julian Isherwood, requests his help in investigating the circumstances surrounding the rediscovery, and quite lucrative sale of, a timeless painting. Isherwood has a long past with Gabriel, and despite his odd ways that have often frustrated Gabriel for years, the former Israeli spy chief sees Julian as a dear friend. As such, he finds himself quickly drawn to a painting that has a murky quality. In short order, Gabriel determines that the painting in question, a masterwork from the brush and pallet of Sir Anthony van Dyke, is an extremely well done forgery. In fact, it is a brilliant fake that has fooled the greatest art experts in the world.

As the story moves along at breakneck speed, pulling the reader in, nothing and nobody is what they seem to be. In his quest to uncover the identity of the brilliant forger, and what is a billion dollar fraud operation that targets the highest echelon of the international art world, Gabriel Allon conceives a plan that is both bold and elaborate. If his clever plan is to succeed in unearthing this art forgery scheme that is spreading through global art market, Gabriel must actually become the mirror image of the talented perpetrator that he seeks to expose; a person who is the greatest art forger the world has ever known.

Across the decades, within the pages of Daniel Silva’s twenty two pulse pounding adrenalin-rushing novels of international intrigue, his protagonist, Gabriel Allon, has become a character who has achieved an almost mythical quality to readers across the globe. ‘Portrait of an Unknown Woman’ is no exception. It is another scorching read from the master of international suspense and intrigue.

As a writer, what differentiates and sets Daniel Silva apart from the rest of the literary pack is his unfailing ability to craft books that never get stale, predictable or worn out. Each new offering is fresh, exciting, and captures the imagination of readers. He has a gift for pulling one in and making them keep turning pages late into the night. I know because I’m one of those readers. He is timeless, and has staying power. To put it another way, in my mind, Daniel Silva is to the literary world a bit like Mick Jagger is to rock music; he is timeless.

Paul Collins is a freelance writer from Southborough, Massachusetts.