The English Assassin

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: John Lee

Israeli art restorer and occasional secret agent Gabriel Allon has a problem. A prominent Swiss banker has called him to Switzerland to restore his Raphael. The problem is that Allon finds the banker dead in front of his Raphael, and he's the prime suspect. After some diplomatic intervention, Allon is freed. However, the banker's daughter, wracked by guilt, tells him that her father's cache of French Impressionist paintings, acquired under dubious circumstances during the Second World War, has been stolen by the murderers. Once Allon knows about the banker's wartime misdeeds, he attracts the attention of a secret Swiss organization dedicated to suppressing knowledge of all such crimes, and he is pursued by a shadowy killer known only as "the Englishman."©2002 Daniel Silva (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.

If you like Da Vinci Code...

Hey! It's another espionage/art history novel! Except for theological musings in Da Vinci Code, there are some pretty major similarities between the two. Of course, here the emphasis is on the espionage. The art history is more incidental in this one.

Unlike an earlier reviewer, I did not like the narrator. The accents kept on coming, which is authentic and all, but not always pleasing to the ear, and I got a little sick of listening to them. His regular narration is also laid on a bit thickly. Given it's high rating, Mr. Lee was not a problem for most listeners, but if you are careful in your purchases, you might want to give the sample a listen.

Another minor point. I don't find the title to be very descriptive of the major narrative thread. I would have thought the English assassin to be more central to the plot based on the title. If you are dying to here a lot about British people who kill, you may want to check out something by Ian Fleming.

I am interested in listening to more stories about Gabriel, but I might check for a different narrator and see if that helps.

Just ok

I've been trying to get into this series and just can't. The hero is not compelling enough to encourage rapid listening. I found it very easy to walk away from this story (and the first) for long periods of time. I really want to like him, but he just doesn't compare to Rapp or Harvath.

Good read

I really like Daniel Silva books. John Lee has a beautiful voice, but sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between characters. And while I enjoy the more recent Gabriel Allon books a bit more, this was a very engaging read. I would prefer less F-bombs, but other than that Very enjoyable.

enjoyable story

I found this story very enjoyable. the ending was not as expected which was a nice change from everything being neatly rapped up.

Excellent

My 2nd book of Silva!! Can’t wait for the next in the series!! Excellent Narrator

Thriller with historical WWII background

Suspenseful Silva thriller with interesting insight into Switzerland 's not so well known involvement with Nazi Germany during WWII. Easy read that holds your interest throughout.

Another winner

Love Gabriel Allon tales, and this one was fabulous. Narration was excellent, so a winner all around.

I thought I wouldn’t like it

Then within 15 minutes I was caught. Enthralling story, well read. Enjoyed every word (except for the first few minutes before I was caught 😂)

Great story, performance not so much

Only my second Silva novel, but the story was every bit as good as the first. Unfortunately, the narration really hurt the experience for me.

The narrator was good at many of the European accents, especially German, but since some primary characters are Israeli I thought the story really suffered because the narrator kept imbuing their voices with a German twinge.

Excellent book, poor narrator

This is the second Gabriel Allon book of Daniel Silva's I've read, and even though I liked the storyline in this one better, the listen was not as enjoyable. John Lee seems to get his accents mixed up and it is often difficult to distinguish which characters are talking. His reading is the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars.

I'm hooked on the Gabriel Allon series. One other reviewer said they didn't like the finish, but I liked it, found it very poignant, and had tears in my eyes at the end. I agree that I would have liked to have a little more detail in the wrapping up, but all in all a good novel. I listened every chance I got...couldn't put it down.

Unfortunately the next 2 Gabriel Allon books in the series are also narrated by John Lee, but the books are so good, I'm willing to put up with the weird narration. Hopefully his accents will not be too mixed up in the next one.