You might think twenty-one books into a series, things would be getting a bit stale. Not so with Daniel Silva’s tales of Israeli spy-chief Gabriel Allon. They still have the tension, the drama, and the emotion of the first few books. None more so than in “The Cellist”. “The Cellist” sees the return of several characters from previous books, as well as a couple of new ones. When old nemesis turned friend Viktor Orlov is assassinated using a well-known Russian nerve agent, and his journalist friend is framed for the murder, Gabriel sets out to uncover the truth. When that truth is revealed, he takes it upon himself to ruin those responsible, even to the highest levels of Russian government. The way in which he goes about this has all the usual flair, daring and deceit we expect from Gabriel Allon and his team. As usual, an innocent is required as bait, and complex scenarios are required to entice the bad guys into the web that Gabriel weaves. It’s marvellous to follow the team as they slowly draw the net tighter. As usual, Daniel Silva’s research and broad knowledgebase is impeccable. Part of the fascination is his ability to seamlessly merge fact and fiction, using real-life situations as the backdrop to the characters’ trials. Sometimes blatant, often subtly camouflaged, people, places and situations are woven in and out of the story, so much so, the reader begins to wonder where the fictions take over from the fact. And I guarantee you will read the final few chapters in one sitting! As he says in the afterword, Daniel Silva wrote this book not only during the Coronavirus pandemic (it features in the story) but also during the infamous last days of Donald Trump’s presidency. It shows – and some of the reflections on that and the current state of the American democracy make some distressing reading. Gabriel is now (we think) in his mid to late sixties, and due to retire from his post as DG of the Israeli secret service within months. His age is telling on him, and personally, I’d like to see him, Chiara and the kids, retiring to Venice, and living a quiet life. He’s certainly earned it. Then again, I’m sure he’d pick up some interesting titbits of private work if he needed it, knowing his contacts in the Vatican… “The Cellist” is heartily recommend for both Allon fans as well as those die-hard spy thriller fans.

I always look forward to to my annual visit to the world of Gabriel Allon, Israeli spymaster extraordinaire and this year I was lucky to receive The Cellist as a review copy via NetGalley. This instalment was slightly different in that it is set during the pandemic and it also references many current political events, particularly towards the end of the novel. It was a very topical read in that it encompassed Russian oligarchs using Swiss banks to launder money on behalf of the state and interfere with democracy to destabilise the West. The Cellist referenced in the title is working for one of these banks and via a series of events and a murder she is brought to Gabriel’s attention and he recruits her to try and bring down an extremely nasty Russian gangster with direct links to the Kremlin. Usually Daniel Silva’s books transport me out of my everyday life and into the secret world of espionage and secret plots but the constant reminder of the current pandemic and other world events meant that this book was a little different. Some of the things that happened in it only served to remind me that often life can be stranger and perhaps even more scary than fiction! It was an exciting and thrilling read and as usual with books by this author, once I had started it I found it difficult to put it down and despite my attempts to slow my reading to extend the enjoyment., I’d finished it over the course of a weekend. If you are a Gabriel Allon fan you will definitely enjoy this book. It contains all the regular characters who have been present in earlier books and of course the plot also includes a painting that needs restoration so that Gabriel can use his other skills! Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

A poisoned Russian dissident, an investigative journalist on the run and a non-descript German banker. Linking these three is not easy for Gabriel Allon but he will most certainly not just watch when one of his friends who once saved his life is killed with Novichok. The traces soon lead to Isabel Brenner who works at RhineBank in Zurich, the world’s dirtiest bank. Apart from calculating risks and laundering money, she also plays the cello like a professional. Deceived by her misogynist co-workers, she starts to leak information about the “Russian Laundromat”, the bank’s way of cleaning Russian oligarchs’ rubles. It does not take long for her to be convinced to work with Gabriel Allon to bring the bank and the Russians to fall. Their main target is Arkady Akimov but he himself is actually only a small figure, it is somebody much bigger and much more influential who is behind the Russian money. In the twenty-first novel of the series about the legendary Israeli spy and art restorer turned into director-general of the world famous intelligence service, Daniel Silva focusses on another current topic: the political influence which money can buy, especially money which was acquired illegally and washed through layers of fake firms by banks which are only too willing to profit. The author also managed to incorporate the Covid restrictions as well as the challenges to the American democracy that we have witnessed in January 2021 making it highly topical. The cellist is a remarkable character, on the one hand, she is a highly intelligent cool mathematician who knows how to juggle with numbers and money. On the other hand, as a woman, she experiences the misogynist behaviour of her colleagues in a dominantly male business and despite her skills is prevented from unfolding her full potential. She finds solace in music, the cello she can play on her own and the impact the tone has on her own mood but also on others is amazing. The Russians are an old but nevertheless still interesting topic in spy novels. It is not the cold war scenario of piling up destructive weapons anymore, the war between the systems is fought a lot more subtly today. Nerve agents like Novichok have become broad knowledge and the fact that money makes the world go round is also well-known. Having the financial means leads to the necessary power to rule the world, regardless of democratic systems and boundaries which only seem to exist on paper. Silva proves again that he is a masterful storyteller. He brilliantly interweaves different plot lines to create a high paced and suspenseful novel. Still after so many instalments, one does not get exhausted by the protagonist since the author always finds a completely new story to tell.