The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon Series #12) [NOOK Book]

( 156 )

Overview

After narrowly surviving his last operation, Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, has taken refuge behind the walls of the Vatican, where he is restoring one of Caravaggio's greatest masterpieces. But early one morning he is summoned to St. Peter's Basilica by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII. The body of a beautiful woman lies broken beneath Michelangelo's magnificent dome. The Vatican police suspect suicide, though Gabriel believes ...

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The Fallen Angel (Gabriel Allon Series #12)

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More About This Book

Overview

After narrowly surviving his last operation, Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, has taken refuge behind the walls of the Vatican, where he is restoring one of Caravaggio's greatest masterpieces. But early one morning he is summoned to St. Peter's Basilica by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the all-powerful private secretary to His Holiness Pope Paul VII. The body of a beautiful woman lies broken beneath Michelangelo's magnificent dome. The Vatican police suspect suicide, though Gabriel believes otherwise. So, it seems, does Donati. But the monsignor is fearful that a public inquiry might inflict another scandal on the Church, and so he calls upon Gabriel to quietly pursue the truth—with one caveat.

"Rule number one at the Vatican," Donati said. "Don't ask too many questions."

Gabriel learns that the dead woman had uncovered a dangerous secret—a secret that threatens a global criminal enterprise that is looting timeless treasures of antiquity and selling them to the highest bidder. But there is more to this network than just greed. A mysterious operative is plotting an act of sabotage that will plunge the world into a conflict of apocalyptic proportions. . . .

An intoxicating blend of art, intrigue, and history, The Fallen Angel moves swiftly from the cloistered chambers of the Vatican to the glamorous ski slopes of St. Moritz to the graceful avenues of Berlin and Vienna—and, finally, to a shocking climax beneath the world's most sacred and contested parcel of land. Each setting in this extraordinary novel is rendered with the care of an Old Master, as are the spies, lovers, priests, and thieves who inhabit its pages. It is a story of faith and of the destructive power of secrets—and an all too timely reminder that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

When Gabriel Allon was summoned to St. Peter's Basilica, he was restoring a Caravaggio masterpiece, but he soon learned that his new Vatican assignment was less involved with art than with homicide. The apparent suicide of a young woman in the vast, beautiful church had prompted the urgent call from Allon's friend Monsignor Luigi Donati. As the multi-talented detective pursues the truth behind the crime, he uncovers a far-reaching and ruthless criminal smuggling ring—and that, it proves, is just the beginning... Now in mass-market paperback and NOOK Book. (P.S. New readers are still discovering the detective who a newspaper critic called the most compelling creation since "Ian Fleming put down his martini and invented James Bond.")

Library Journal
Art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon is glad to be back in Rome, cleaning up a Caravaggio. Then he gets a call from Monsignor Luigi Donati, the pope's personal secretary, who's found the body of a woman lying beneath the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. No, Allon does not see this as a suicide and digs deeper to uncover a ring of antiquities smugglers with revenge on their minds. The one-day laydown on July 7 and 500,000-copy first printing make this pretty much essential.
All Things Considered - NPR
"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."
Dallas-Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Daniel Silva’s The Fallen Angel soars with authenticity….The Fallen Angel delivers the goods….Riveting espionage adventures that have timely, real-world relevance.”
Columbus Dispatch
“Meticulously researched....The Fallen Angel is a first-class spy mystery painted on a grand scale.”
Arizona Republic
“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.”
All Things Considered NPR
“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

“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.”

Kirkus Reviews
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.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062073174
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 7/17/2012
  • Series: Gabriel Allon Series , #12
  • Sold by: Harpercollins
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 432
  • Sales rank: 3,877
  • File size: 2 MB

Meet the Author

Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva is the number one New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Spy, The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, The Defector, The Rembrandt Affair, and Portrait of a Spy. He is married to NBC News Today correspondent Jamie Gangel; they live in Washington, D.C., with their two children.

Biography

Daniel Silva was attending graduate school in San Francisco when United Press International offered him a temporary job covering the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Later that year, the wire service offered him full-time employment; he quit grad school and went to work for UPI -- first in San Francisco, then in Washington, D.C., and finally as a Middle East Correspondent posted in Cairo. While covering the Iran-Iraq War in 1987, he met NBC correspondent Jamie Gangel. They married, and Silva returned to Washington to take a job with CNN.

Silva was still at CNN when, with the encouragement of his wife, he began work on his first novel, a WWII espionage thriller. Published in 1997, The Unlikely Spy became a surprise bestseller and garnered critical acclaim. ("Evocative... memorable..." said The Washington Post; "Briskly suspenseful," raved The New York Times). On the heels of this somewhat unexpected success, Silva quit his job to concentrate on writing.

Other books followed, all earning respectable reviews; but it was Silva's fourth novel that proved to be his big breakthrough. Featuring a world-famous art restorer and sometime Israeli agent named Gabriel Allon, The Kill Artist (2000) fired public imagination and soared to the top of the bestseller charts. Gabriel Allon has gone on to star in several sequels, and his creator has become one of our foremost novelists of espionage intrigue, earning comparisons to such genre superstars as John Le Carré. Frederick Forsythe, and Robert Ludlum. Silva's books have been translated into more than 25 languages and have been published around the world.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 156 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(88)

4 Star

(42)

3 Star

(13)

2 Star

(7)

1 Star

(6)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 156 Customer Reviews

  • Posted July 17, 2012

    In Gabriel Allon's world, a world of art restoration and beauty,

    In Gabriel Allon's world, a world of art restoration and beauty, lies an undertone of the spy he once was for the Mossad, where life is precious.
    While working in the Vatican, a young female Curate falls from near the top of the Basilica. Only in Gabriel's world would a Catholic priest ask him to "look around, but don't ask too many questions". I believe they have the wrong person!
    Gabriel is not noted for being lowkey; wherever he is bodies seem to just drop out of the sky. Part of the puzzle is what the curator was working on, and who it was for. It could be related to a terrorist group, or the Mob. Or even worse, Hezbollah, which would cheerfully wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
    Our favorite characters from Silva's previous books are present to assist Gabriel, Air Sharom, Uzi Navot, and the new leader of the Mossad Eli Lavon.
    OF all Daniel Silva's 15 novels, this is by far the best, and while it builds on his other novels, this masterpiece stands alone.

    29 out of 33 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 23, 2012

    I won't go over the plot line, etc. since you can get all of tha

    I won't go over the plot line, etc. since you can get all of that from the product detail and other reviews. But as someone who has read all of Daniel's novels, I would rate this one up there right at the top (The Defector is still my all-time favorite, but this one is very, very, very close). What I especially liked about this installment of the Gabriel Allon series was that the characters seemed more alive and vivid then perhaps any of the previous books. As always, the reader feels like they are really in the locations of the action, which includes a couple of my favorite places: Rome and Jerusalem. And as is also always the case with a Silva novel, the story is based on current events that Daniel has researched extensively. Also, I should add that, unlike some thrill writers, Daniel actually uses the English language very well - clear, yet elegent. All-around, this book is as close to perfect as one could hope for!!

    12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 22, 2012

    Oh WOW! "The Fallen Angel" is another spine-tingling,

    Oh WOW! "The Fallen Angel" is another spine-tingling, spell-binding installment in the Gabriel Allon series. I thoroughly enjoy Mr. Silva's work because the stories are absolutely gripping, but his research is so thorough that I always come away feeling that I know more about art and the politics of the Middle East than I did going in, and this book is another strong example of that research. The descriptions of the religious sites in Jerusalem and St. Peter's Basilica are captivating. The plot speeds along, but Mr. Silva never tips his hand as to what the climax of the story will be, which kept me reading for about 8 hours straight. I am only sad that I can't read it again for the first time, and would recommend it to anyone who likes a thriller! If you take it to the beach, put on your sunscreen before you start reading, because you WILL forget once you become engrossed in the story.

    9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 22, 2012

    Highly Recommend

    Just finished reading 'Fallen Angel'. I thought Daniel Silva's last Allon book could not be topped, but I was wrong. He made it very easy to visualize Allon as he goes from one place to another. I enjoy the history he gave - even when he took literary license. His discriptions of the paintings, streets, and all the surroundings that Allon encountered. I have read many authors that write esponize and dectetive books. Daniel Silve is way above all of them. Thank you for your intellect, research and writings.

    6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 24, 2012

    Reading a Daniel Silva novel featuring the character Gabriel All

    Reading a Daniel Silva novel featuring the character Gabriel Allon is like meeting up with old friends. As an Israeli spy and Art Restorer, Allon's adventures take on a familiar tone with this one starting with the restoration of a Carevaggio painting in the Vatican. When a curator from the Antiquities Division falls to her death in the Basilica, Gabriel is called on to investigate the suspicious death. Like the chiaroscuro of the Carevaggio, Gabriel's team uncovers the layers of a plot that takes the action from Rome to Vienna, Denmark and home to Jerusalem and the uncovering of a link between the Vatican and a terrorist plot that would ignite a third Intifada. Silva's series may follow a familiar formula but along the way the quick pace of the action and the real life reality of the World stage makes his novels totally engrossing and deeply satisfying. Through Gabriel's character Silva makes it clear that for the spy there is no easy retirement as long as the world still need his skills to keep us safe. This is a wonderful addition to the series and a must read for long time fans.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 21, 2012

    I love this book

    With The Fallen Angel Daniel Silva has another spy thriller masterpiece on his hands. Not only is the writing exceptional but the story line and character development are fantastic. I started reading this genre of books by starting at the beginning with Daniel's books and none of them disappoint. The only problem is that after 3 days of reading I now have to wait another year for the next installment of the Gabriel Allon series. Thank you for another amazing book.

    5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 29, 2012

    Starting this story was, for me, like 'going home again'. The ch

    Starting this story was, for me, like 'going home again'. The characters that I hold so dear - Gabriel first and foremost - are back in action, and there's plenty of that. I think one of the things that I most love about Daniel Silva's storytelling is that he puts me "RIGHT THERE" - right in Venice, right in Jerusalem, right in the Vatican, right in London or Paris or Switzerland - it's in the details that he provides, without going overboard on them. He offers some of the histories, some of the formative events, while interlacing actual current events, weaving them into tales that cannot be put down, cannot be 'not read'. Whereas in many action stories, I might skip paragraphs or even chapters of 'stuff' like "why this person is what and how he is" - to get to the meat of the story, in Daniel Silva's stories the 'meat' is front and center - it IS Gabriel and his art work and his whole 'family' of characters and I read EVERY WORD. It's ALWAYS "all about THEM". This story also interwove Italy and the Vatican mysteries and actions; and while I realise that this book IS fiction, there is SO MUCH research and knowledge in the pages that I (a disabled person who does not travel), AM THERE. This series of Silva's is my VERY FAVOURITE of all the action/spy/thriller series that I voraciously consume; Gabriel is my brother, Chiara a sister, Ari Shamron a favourite uncle - I hurt when they hurt, and I hurt when I read of the life that Israelis must really live, surrounded by the merciless jihadists and Hezbollah. I could never go there in person - but I can BE THERE, thanks to Daniel Silva and Gabriel and company. If you are looking for an incredible action story, weaving art restoration through the Vatican through the Islamic terrorist societies, while maintaining the heart and soul of Gabriel and his group, then this book is for you. It is SO realistic it's uncanny at times. My one caveat would be that if this is to be your first Gabriel book, buy ALL of them and read them in order - it will blow you away, especially with "The Fallen Angel" as your "dessert"!

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 21, 2012

    Outstanding read!!!

    Could not put it down!

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted July 7, 2012

    The fallen angle

    I really want to reaad this so diespreatly.

    4 out of 25 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 4, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Another Silva Masterpiece As with all the other installments of

    Another Silva Masterpiece

    As with all the other installments of the Gabriel Allon series, this was a hugely entertaining, fast paced and all too plausible read. The meshing of history with current world events was exquisitely rendered. The characters feel like family by this point. While Fallen Angel can be read as a stand-alone thriller, it is so much more satisfying to have read the preceding installments due to the blink-of-an-eye allusions to previous books in the series scattered throughout this story. One of the many reasons that I enjoy Daniel Silva's books is that they demonstrate how events from decades, centuries or even millennia in our past still have a profound effect on the current geopolitical state of affairs. Unlike many other thriller or historical fiction writers, the plots and "twists" he weaves are very credible. As I read Fallen Angel, I got the strong sense of a world weary Gabriel and wondered how he'd have the strength to pull this caper off. I held out as long as I could before buying and then diving into Fallen Angel, because I knew how disappointed I'd be at the prospect of having finished it. Maybe a re-read? I always look forward to the next Gabriel Allon installment, am completely amazed at the quality of writing and believability of the plot while immersed in the book, then look forward to the next one. Write quickly, Daniel. Write quickly.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 30, 2012

    I'm pausing from reading The Fallen Angel just long enough to ad

    I'm pausing from reading The Fallen Angel just long enough to add my 5 star rating. I would give it 25 stars if I could!!! As are all Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon books, The Fallen Angel is riveting!!! The pace is fast, the characters unforgetable and the events so realistic it's scary. I recommend buying/reading the entire series...you will want to go back and read them again.


    3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted July 22, 2012

    With Silva's Fallen Angel you don't only get an International Ad

    With Silva's Fallen Angel you don't only get an International Adventure but as a bonus you get both an education in art and middle east affairs
    Welcome Home Gabriel
    Congratulations Daniel

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 17, 2012

    Ponca

    Thank you, Spirit.

    2 out of 34 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 18, 2012

    The most brilliant yet!

    Daniel Silva brings his characters to life in novels relevant to what is happening in our world I do have to say this is his most captivating novel in the world of Gabriel Allon yet! A must read! Barb H. Algonquin, Il

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 15, 2012

    This is a deeply hyped book, which I thought was about artwork a

    This is a deeply hyped book, which I thought was about artwork and mystery in the Vatican. It's not...it's the problems we all see in TV on the cable news stations....very boring and disappointing. If you want to try and understand the cobwebs of the Hebrews and Muslims fight over the Middle East...this might answer it...but not really. It's someone's best guess....and shows that all the financial ruins of every country, is tied up with one-up-man-ship on a global scale. They get in bed with evil to catch evil and it's not working. Ho-hum and no one knows any answers. Watch the news...it's just as convoluted. And it's real.

    1 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 8, 2012

    One of Silva's Best

    I have thoroughly enjoyed the Allon series and am pleased that they keep getting better and better. Can't wait for thr)e next one! Silva is one of my all time favorite authors, beautiful descriptions that make you feel you are actually there witnessing events occur. The entire series is a "must-read".

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 7, 2012

    must read

    not only are your reading about Gabrial, but your getting a history lesson, When you read this book, you will not be able to stop reading. I recommend you start from Daniel Silva's first book, thru the Fallen Angel, this book can be read first, but you will enjoy each of the books, read about Gabriel from the start. Each story can happen, thats what keep's you reading. Shalom Gabriel

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 7, 2012

    The description of the subject is not needed here. We are again

    The description of the subject is not needed here. We are again in the most wonderful Italian Renaissance Art History world and the never ending situation between the Israelis and their forever enemies. Daniel Silva is as always describing the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Gabriel Allon and his friends are our problem solvers as usual. May God bless them and bring peace to the world. Thank you Daniel for bringing again my 2 favorite subjects into your story. My love for Italian Renaissance Art History and my love for Israel.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 4, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    This latest book in the Gabriel Allon Series by Daniel Silva is

    This latest book in the Gabriel Allon Series by Daniel Silva is another adventure in the world of a secret spy for the Israeli government. Gabriel, who pays his rent by being a restorer of fine art is now working on a masterpiece by Caravaggio at the Vatican.

    A curator in the antiquities division of the Vatican has fallen to her death in St. Peter’s Basilica and Gabriel has been asked to take on the task of finding out if she jumped or was pushed. Gabriel has tried many times to get away from the Israeli Intelligence Service, but like the Godfather, everytime he thinks he has escaped, they pull him back. He is asked by the Pope’s Private Secretary to look into the death and see what he can find out. How do you say no to the Pope? On top of everything else, the Pope wants it done discreetly!!

    Gabriel discovers that the curator was investigating some of the origins of the Vatican’s antiques and had made some headway into some underhanded deals that would put someone into a great deal of trouble if he/she was discovered. Gabriel, his wife and his cohorts from the Intelligence branch of the Israeli government are on the trail of the culprits that include a criminal who is married to a friend of Gabriel’s and that makes it a little bit dicey for all the investigators.

    This plot will seem familiar to all of Silva’s avid readers of Allon books as Gabriel is dragged into a plot with his team of experts again. You’d like to tell him that if he wants to get away from spying, he just has to change his name and move to another country and even then, probably wouldn’t get away. The story moves about from Italy, to France, to Germany and back again with an older Gabriel who is still sharp as a tack and a man who you would definitely want on your side in a fight. Silva's books are snatched off the shelves in droves and fans wait impatiently for the next one. My very favorite is his first book The Unlikely Spy. I would very much like to see another book in that genre from Silva. It was and is fantastic.

    Quill Says: I’ll say again, a great story with expert writing, plotting and characterization. Allon, and his creator Daniel Silva, are supermen with super brains and it seems that Gabriel's past will come back to haunt him for many books to come.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 3, 2012

    Great Book

    Good book in the series. Enjoy the series.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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