House of Spies

A Novel

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: George Guidall

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Black Widow comes the thrilling new summer blockbuster featuring legendary spy, assassin and art restorer Gabriel Allon.

A heart-stopping tale of suspense, Daniel Silva's runaway best seller The Black Widow was one of 2016's biggest novels. Now, in House of Spies, Gabriel Allon is back and out for revenge - determined to hunt down the world's most dangerous terrorist, a shadowy ISIS mastermind known only as Saladin.

Four months after the deadliest attack on the American homeland since 9/11, terrorists leave a trail of carnage through London's glittering West End. The attack is a brilliant feat of planning and secrecy, but with one loose thread.

The thread leads Gabriel Allon and his team of operatives to the south of France and to the gilded doorstep of Jean-Luc Martel and Olivia Watson. A beautiful former British fashion model, Olivia pretends not to know that the true source of Martel's enormous wealth is drugs. And Martel, likewise, turns a blind eye to the fact he is doing business with a man whose objective is the very destruction of the West. Together, under Gabriel's skilled hand, they will become an unlikely pair of heroes in the global war on terror.

Written in seductive and elegant prose, the story moves swiftly from the glamour of Saint-Tropez to the grit of Casablanca and, finally, to an electrifying climax that will leave listeners breathless.

But House of Spies is more than just riveting entertainment; it is a dazzling tale of avarice and redemption set against the backdrop of the great conflict of our times. And it proves once again why Daniel Silva is "quite simply the best" (Kansas City Star).

©2017 Daniel Silva (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Christopher Keller returns as Peter Morrow

Christopher Keller first showed up in Book 2 of the Gabriel Allon series as an Allon nemesis the English assassin living on Corsica and working for a crime boss. He returned as a lead character in Book 15 as the English spy not quite completely reformed. He returns again as a lead character in this novel, Book 17 in the series, this time as Peter Morrow a British espionage agent.

One of the things I like about Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series is the frequently reappearing characters. Archeologist and best surveillance artist ever Eli Lavon appears inmost of the Allon novels. London art dealer Julian Isherwood appears in many. Leader of The Office, and the man who recruited Gabriel Allon into Israeli intelligence, Ari Shamron appears in all as the wise old leader. Uzi Navolt appears in most of the series novels and is Allon's competitor to lead The Office when Shamron retires (he does lead for a while). Allon's tragic first wife Leah appears again and again. Chiara first appears as a member of Allon's team and is now his second wife. .Mikhail Abramov the good looking Russian Jew also called Gabriel without a conscience appears repeatedly as a team member. CIA agent Sarah Bancroft appear in several books as a member of Allon's team and became the long time girlfriend of Mikhail. Dina Sarid was injured by a Palestinian bomb before joining the office and is now an expert on terrorism. Rimona Stern, Shamron's niece, is an intelligene expert often assigned to the team. Then there is CIA operations director Adrian Carter and MI5 deputy Graham Seymour who often interface with Allon. There are several other repeating characters.

In House of Spies we find that Gabriel Allon has assumed the leadership of The Office and that he and his wife Chiara now have two young children. We also learn that even as head of The Office, Allon is still going to get his hands dirty; Gabriel does not stay in his office but actually leads the three nation team out to find and kill a terrorist who in intent on setting off a dirty bomb in London.

House of Spies is an outstanding espionage suspense novel and is a great addition to the Gabriel Allon series. George Guidall narrates superbly as usual.

YES! This is what I want and expect!

I have read or listened to every one of the books in this series. And this is why. There were a couple lately that weren't as good as previous ones but this one is definitely a 5 star. And there isn't enough to say about George Guidall...the perfect narrator. Perfect.

Absolutely Brilliant

This is possibly one of the best books in this series, up there with the Rembrandt Affair for me. The story line, the development of the plot, the prose, it is all there. The only thing we were missing was a painting in the middle of it all. But no matter, the characters more than made up for it. I strongly recommend, the only thing is that you better set aside 13 hours of your life, because you will not want to put it down until the last word.

read it

Silva's work remains captivating and without equal in this genre at this time and place.

Daniel Silva and Gabriel Allen never disappoint

Plot perfection from an author I respect more than any other. And brilliant narration. I wrote a bunch here about how Silva fleshes out his characters and tips out headlines, weaving then into his intricate plots, but alas, I somehow deleted it. I so wanted to express my admiration for Silva's books, but this will have to do.

Silva always teaches me so much about the Middle East conflict. I love Israel and admire their brilliant ingenuity in business, love of life, their strength, and morality. And I also appreciate Silva's compassion for those on the other side — the young, the old, the ones who have been victimized by ignorance and hatred, and the ones who long for the freedom to use their education to live their lives in peace. In that way, Silva never preaches.

I learned a lot about ISIS, Syria and Libya, Morocco, art and so much more. I recommend all of Silva's books about Gabriel Allen. Each one is a carefully crafted masterpiece.

Excellent

Another excellent audio from the master Mr. Silvia. I've listened to all the Gabriel Allon audios and line all the rest I couldn't stop listening keep them coming Mr. Silvia

Great words, fine voice, long night without pause

When the cold November winds blow (or December, January or summer heat), clear half a day and snuggle up with the headphones. This is one of those rare books that once you press play, you'll not want to pause.

Silva's Gabriel Allon series has built book-by-book a series of maturing characters evolving in sophistication and skill with each novel. Oh sure, disbelief must be set aside, but the plots, subplots and intricacies are Silva at his best.

Suspense and tension are well-paced and listening while driving may find hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. An unfinished chapter may result in driveway time to not break the spell.

No spoilers here, but the plot features incompetent officials, rogues operatives, creative solutions, nasty bad guys, and a dramatic climax.

If this is to be a first experience with Allon and his team, it would honestly be better to start at the beginning of the series, or at least with the two preceding books--as both have plots carrying into this novel. Starting with book 1 is best to follow the evolving character development.

There isn't much that can be said about George Guidall's performance. He has this genre down pat, and smoothly differentiates character voices, offers exceptional sense of timing and carries the story as perfectly as any 1930s radio drama.

Never disappoints!

I love Daniel Silva and I have read all 20 of his books. If I see one coming out, I have to have it immediately and many, I tend to reread! Gabriel Allon is one of my favorite characters in literature (right up there with Agent Pendergast). Who can't love an Israeli, multilingual, art restoring Mossad agent? Especially one whose specialties are Italian Old Masters and terrorists respectively? This book, I listened to on audio. If you haven't listened to a Daniel Silva book read by George Guidall, you are missing quite a performance. His voice is a smooth, rich, velvety baritone with a Transatlantic accent that is just divine! And he doesn't mispronounce the French names and places (which is a personal pet peeve of mine). His voice for Gabriel is sarcastic and no-nonsense and combined with Silva's writing, I often laugh out loud at the dialogue among characters. The plots are intelligent, complex, thought-provoking, timely, and political and when I'm done with a book, I feel like I've been all over the world. My only real concern is who should play Gabriel and I hope if/when these books come to television or film, they don't mess them up!

Another great book

Nothing can be said that already hasn't been said about the great writer Daniel Silvia and his masterful writing if one could complain it would be he always leaves you wanting more

overall a good read

I enjoyed the storyline, the authors comments at the end were a good touch. I don't usually read this type of material but I really enjoyed this one. It was a bit too telling for a story but the author does a good job at balancing the story with character development.