The Black Widow: The true crime book of the year

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That doesn't mean, however, that a few things weren't a bit bothersome - the first of which is that the emphasis is far more on politics and history than on the characters. Chiara barely plays a role, and even Gabriel doesn't seem to be at the forefront as much as in previous books. There is almost tedious detail about the relationships (pro and con) among various countries like Israel, France and Syria, and the author makes it abundantly clear what side of the political fence he's on. That's not all bad, mind you; even though I've crabbed about other authors' crossing the line of putting their personal political agendas ahead of the story - and this one comes close to doing just that - Silva manages to write around it all in such an interesting, totally engaging way that in the end it didn't matter a whit to me (the historical parts, in fact, I thoroughly enjoyed). Saladin, for all his ambition and ruthlessness, has managed to keep his true identity a secret. Everyone from Jordan’s GID to America’s CIA, and, of course, the Office, know him by reputation and name only. Smoking him out will not be easy, especially for a young doctor working as a newly trained, and first-time spy. Finalmente puedo concluir que podemos ver una muy buena crítica a la violencia manifestada por ISIS y a la ineficacia de los gobiernos y sus políticas de estados en función a intereses propios; en donde definitivamente el ciudadano común puede ser el más afectado.

As a longtime fan of the series, I’m happy for Gabriel, but sad at the same time. I’m not yet ready to admit to myself that those days of him in the field are over with. However, if they are, Silva has begun setting things up for the future rather nicely. It was interesting to read that the author had written this book before the bombings in France took place this year. I am so impressed by the research that is done with each book that he has written. The vivid imagery is truly astounding. Powerful. “ISIS doesn’t crucify only because it is cruel. It crucifies because, according to the Koran, crucifixion is one of the proscribed punishments for the enemies of Islam. It crucifies because it must. We civilized Westerners find this almost impossible to comprehend.” It seems that this may be the last book in the Allon Series, which makes me feel pretty sad. I have loved this series for years and Gabriel Allon has become one of my favorite fictional secret agents. Hopefully he will make a "guest" appearance in future books. Daniel Silva has entertained and even educated us, throughout the last 15 novels featuring the brilliant and enigmatic hero, Gabriel Allon - Israeli intelligence agent, super spy extraordinaire, art restorer, family man. We have been taken on journeys to different places throughout the globe, met a cast of varied, interesting and compelling characters. Creative and inventive plots filled with present day situations and past history that affects our lives today. Con los primeros capítulos, descubrimos un personaje que está detrás de la ejecución del atentado, una mujer intrigante, sin escrúpulos, resentida y ávida de venganza por un fallecido de esta guerra de ideologías, y es definitivamente… una viuda negra. A partir de una serie de sucesos las pistas nos conducirán a otro personaje: Saladino, quien es la mente maestra y se considera el nuevo Mesías del Estado Islámico; siendo éste el principal objetivo a detener. Can the Gabriel Allon series get any better? This may be the best book in the series to date. Daniel Silva's writing skills continue to grow. The story could be something straight out of the news headlines. Silva's prescience is uncanny.For what it’s worth, I think that Saladin is one of Silva’s best villains and a worthy foe for Gabriel Allon. I love the mystique around his true identity, which only adds to the overall suspense of the story. A woman whom Gabriel knew (she appeared in Silva’s sixth Allon novel, The Messenger) was among those killed in the explosion. She happened to be in possession of a very rare and famous painting that is valued at more than twenty million dollars. In the event of her death, she had arranged for the painting to go to Gabriel. Knowing this, the French confiscated it from her flat and are holding it until he finishes aiding them with their investigation. While this won’t be the first time Gabriel runs an operation in France, it does mark the first time that he’s doing so with their blessing. In fact, they requested his services and even strong-armed him into helping out. HOWEVER ... With one important exception, Silva repeatedly expresses great disdain for a not at all disguised President Obama, which I find overdone and offensive. On the other hand, there is almost no criticism of Israeli actions which, in my mind, have made things worse rather than better, and continue to do so. I love Gabriel Allon and have read all of the previous 15 books, but I found this book tiresome for a few reasons. First, Daniel Silva has apparently never met a non-beautiful woman worth writing about. As a female reader, this has gotten quite old by now. Isn't it enough to make the new woman featured in this book a multi-lingual, courageous doctor? Can't she just be normal looking and still be worth writing about? I've found Silva's insistence on creating a world populated almost exclusively by beautiful women to be a bit annoying throughout the series, but it was especially wearing in this novel, perhaps because Silva is once again relying on the trope of inserting a beautiful girl into a terrorist network. You'll notice that the female terrorists had to be beautiful, too.

Mizrahi’s scenes are especially compelling, as the magnitude of her mission is never lost on the reader. Silva has done a tremendous job developing her character just enough to make the readers care about her, while at the same time allowing her to remain somewhat of a mystery. That balance allows for some really intense moments later on, as the story eventually takes several surprising turns. Several Israeli citizens, as well as Gabriel's friend Hannah Weinberg, are among those killed in France. So Gabriel postpones his promotion (once again) to chase down 'Saladin', the ISIS mastermind who planned the bombings. If Mizrahi can get close enough to Saladin to expose him, Gabriel will end his field career by killing the terrorist before finally taking his much-anticipated promotion. However, things don’t exactly go according to plan. To get close to the elusive Saladin, Gabriel has to insert an agent deep into ISIS - a very difficult task. To accomplish the feat Gabriel recruits Dr. Natalie Mizrahi, a French-born physician who emigrated to Israel. Natalie - who speaks French, English, and Arabic - is given the secret identity 'Dr. Leila Hadawi', a woman of Palestinian ancestry. As Leila, the new agent works as a doctor in a Muslim neighborhood in France. Comienza con un atentado terrorista que te deja sin palabras, en donde inocentes son acribillados sin piedad; marcando el inicio de una investigación entre agencias de inteligencia que se traduce en infiltraciones y persecuciones que te mantienen enganchado. Con este libro (el tercero de la serie que he leído) puedo entender porque Daniel Silva es el No. 1 en este género.A pesar de ser una novela de espionaje internacional y plantear una trama un tanto compleja, se entiende perfectamente, el autor hace énfasis en el conflicto valiéndose de los hechos históricos que han llevado a la formación de tamaño grupo terrorista, y nos hace comprender de manera sencilla de dónde proviene su fanatismo y cómo lo contagian. De seguro, a otras personas tanto como a mi me pasa, nos resulta impensable caer en tal extremo, pero los hechos nos han demostrado que efectivamente existe. I enjoyed the first quarter of the book; thoroughly adored the second two quarters of the book; then found the last quarter didn't live up to the intelligence of the middle of the book.