Mr. Silva is one of the most consistent writers today. Even this, another installment of the Gabriel Allon series, is fresh and remains exciting. Although this is a series, the novel stands alone. It is nice to know the players, but you can start with this one and go back to the older ones without a problem.

This time Allon, an Israeli operative, starts in Denmark and ends up in London - or Londonistan as it seems. There are the usual bouts of intrique, sleuthing and thrills as he seeks his quarry. The tension builds to a fever pitch as Allon is knowingly thrown into the brink with little to no support. He is left to go where no government will sanction.

What separates Mr. Silva from the usual writers of the spy novel genre writers is his underlying message. Without beating the reader over the head or proselytizing, he alerts the reader to the state of the world and terrorist threats today. His afterword is a very understated emphasis of the threat of Islamist terrorists in Europe. This novel posits the theory, espoused by many, that Britain is now the primary target for jihadists.

Despite the sobering context, this is an intelligent and exciting spy thriller. Highly recommended.

i've been on board since the kill artist,
and i must confess that the secret servant is my favorite allon adventure yet!
the confessor has now slipped into a solid second place!
i'm really looking forward to reading daniel silva's next book very soon!

a must read,

read it, you will not be let down!

"The Secret Servant" is a thriller unafraid to tackle and indict the insidious and unforgiving world of Radical Islam. From a murder of a covert agent and professor in the Netherlands to the kidnapping and brutalization of an American Ambassador's daughter in England coupled with the atrocity of simultaneous suicide bombings, this novel will propel the reader in a relentless pace that does not abate. Gabriel Allon, art restorer and indomitable agent and assassin, is relucatantly commissioned by British intelligence to obtain the release of Elizabeth Halton, prominent surgeon, and now captive of the Sword of Allah, a jihadist group with no conscience. The demand is the release of a terrorist shiekh imprisoned for his orchestration of 9-11. Gabriel is not stalled by emotions in order to find Elizabeth, even if it means the betrayal of those Islamic sources formerly promised immunity. Warning! This book is not for liberal minded, naive idealists, who minimize the true objectives of Islam. Mr Silva does not hide behind any facade of political correctness and never flinches in detailing the global objective of Islam for world domination. This book is spy fiction at its most superior!

True to form, Silva delivers a very good super-spy story. The background is good and current. Unfortunately, the story line now reads too much like the past story lines. If you haven't read all of the Gabriel Allon stories, then you will love this one. If you have, then you will still want to read it, but it does follow the tried and true formula for Silva's Allon series.

This story takes place in some new surroundings in Europe and it brings out some very scary current events that will show Daniel Silva's subject knowledge. I would even say that a movie will be made of this one. It reads very quickly because there is more action and less focus on the sting's set up. So if you are interested in the detailed study and crafting of the operation, this book does not measure up to the others in that area.

The writing is crisp and the dialogue is well done. I don't have anything negative to say except that we've seen it before with different plot-lines.

"And so here we are again, two nice jewish boys sitting on a European street corner at three o'clock in the morning. My G-d, when will it end?"

"It's never going to end, Eli. This is forever."

So it seems to the fictional Gabriel Allon who has been through it all as an Israeli assasin always hot on the heels of the latest terror plot. Hijackings, suicide bombing attempts, hostage rescues.... He's seen them all. His first counterterrorism feat was against the Black September gang involved in the 1972 Munich massacre. He even saved the Italian pope's life at one time! And he has had many success stories ever since, but not without having to endure some sort of physical or mental trauma himself in the process.

This story has its roots in Egypt and the U.K. and the Netherlands. It begins when an Israeli operative is killed. The tracks lead to a terror plot in Great Britain whose target is the U.S. embassy's multimillionaire ambassador. Enter the U.S., the Brits, and of course, Allon, into the fray.

I admit, Israeli spy stories, both fiction and fact, are my favorite subjects. Espionage adventure, my favorite genre. Daniel Silva is a master in the fictional department. His books are suspenseful, hard to put down.

This story highlights Egypt's brewing militant Islamic elements, its causes and Great Britain's burgeoning militant Islamist population. Their security forces seem to have their hands full....

Surveillance is great with so much trouble brewing.

Superb...excellent..Electrifying and the scarest book I have ever read. Mr. Silva has become the standard on which suspense novels will be judged. Not since Robert Ludlums, Bourne Identity has an author captured my mind and heart. This novel needs to be read by every adult in USA and Europe.........what are we doing? 6 stars ******

What's not to like about Daniel Silva? His main character, Gabriel Allon, is a character that readers really like. He's a guy who struggles with his role, his place in life, his past, and his future. But he's a professional. He's not one-dimensional - he has a personal life, and opinions of his own.

The Secret Servant continues his story. A fast-paced run through London, this all too real story of terrorist cells in western Europe will keep you turning pages late into the night. The book is (as usual) well researched, leading to a high level of realism.

If you haven't tried Daniel Silva, but you're a fan of intelligent thrillers, this is a joyride with the top down.

Highly Recommended.

This book will scare you. You will never vote for a blue-blooded liberal again after reading this book. It tells the truth about the bad guys in the middle-east in an entertaining, spine-tingling story. Silva really seems to understand the issue we face with Islamic radicalism.

You MUST read this book.

Silva's series featuring Gabriel Allon took a major hit last time out, and there was some concern that the character and series was ready to be retired. Hold off on that thought.

The Secret Servant is a riveting spy thriller from opening to end, and features some of Silva's best writing and action sequences. Silva keeps the plot twisting and turning throughout the book, and manages to refrain from being overly preachy, which was one of his downfalls in the past.

This an exemplary thriller, and one that deserves to be read.

Yes, this is my favorite part about Silva...his ability to develop a character. Yes, Allon has been in many of his other novels but still SIlva is able to create a believable character whose decisions are based upon his crude and talented life. Allon is a character who suffers and is unsure about many things but at the same time triumphs and forges ahead like many humans. He is not perfect, we are not perfect.
At the same time I do believe that he should've developed the Sphinx more, like in his previous books The Mark of the Assassin and The Marching Season. In those books Silva develops the villain with upmost patience and clever narration.
I like Silva because his language is simple and his narration is so fluent that I easily create a clear image in my mind about the reading. Its clear and concise reading. I also enjoy all his settings...all over Europe and traveling between either the States, Egypt and Israel.
The Secret Servant is a quick read. if you have really enjoyed this novel you should check out The Unlikely Spy which is one of my favorites.
Looking forward to reading another of his books....
peace

I don't think I've missed any precedent Silva novels, and I think this was the most compelling for some reason. I don't buy that a young female surgeon is going to give up her career to accompany old Dad to Britain, even if he is to become the US ambassador. But the rest of it fit together smoothly, to me, and the implications seemed darned realistic.

Don't miss this based on anyone else's review.

Although Daniel Silva can write and his hero Gabriel Allon is well portraided, "The Secret Servant" is no where near as good a book as his other "Allons".

Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series is now into its seventh entry, and the series continues to get better and better. Allon, an Israeli assassin who helped Israel counterattack after the debacle in Munich in 1972, is a hero for the ages - supremely gifted, doggedly patriotic, and sick to death of the chaos that destroyed his first family and threatens his second.

In the past, Silva has used Allon to expose Europe's dark past and its current amnesia about how various governments tolerated and accomodated the Nazis. With "The Secret Servant," Silva changes his focus and uses Allon as the vehicle to pen a scathing indictment of Islamic extremists. Evil terrorists get the plot going with the murder of an Israeli academic in Amerstam and up the ante with a murderous kidnapping in the heart of London.

And they got a dream target - the daughter of the wealthy U.S. ambassador to England who just happens to be the god-daughter of the President. Given a short timeline and catastrophic consequences, Allon moves heaven and earth to track down the terrorists.

This novel proves that Silva is among the best in the business at crafting thrillers. Not only is "The Secret Servant" a page-turner in the classic sense, Silva also manages to have the novel be about something. Silva's novels are always deeper than the other thrillers out there - as much as I love Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels, they are really not about anything more than Reacher unleashing havoc in an exhilirating book. Silva's Gabriel Allon series has at its core the persecution of Israel and the Jews, and while Silva leaves little doubt where he stands on the complex questions of the Middle East, his books are no less thrilling merely because they are about something.

Contrary to the suggestion in the Amazon.com review, I strongly recommend reading these novels in order - the back stories are critical.

From page one I enjoyed this book. It was one of the best I've read in a long time. I'm a Silva fan. Details, events and enjoyable characters make this one a must for action and spy enthusiasts. And, Mr. Silva always includes just the right amount of romance to keep us enticed. Can't wait for his next one.

Gabriel Allon is an Israeli version of Vince Flynn's Mitch Rapp. Both heroes are motivated by patriotism and have little use for laws or people that get in the way of their protecting their respective nations. In reading "The Secret Servant", I was reminded again that I truly wish people like Gabriel Allon and Mitch Rapp actually existed: we could all sleep better if they did. Perhaps it is the fact that we are dealing with a savage, implacable enemy to whom innocent civilians are victims that bring forth novelists like Silva to create the heroes we so sorely lack in real life. One gets tired, frankly, of hearing the chorus of those who would surrender their freedom - and ours - in a flash.

In any event, Daniel Silva has put together a taut thriller the offers few surprises along the way, but a lot of emotional gratification.

Solomon Rosner, mild mannered, is murdered by an Islamic radical. Rosner has been keeping tabs on the Islamic radicals and Israeli intelligence dispatches Gabriel Allon and a colleague to sort through his papers. Allon, who has another identity as an art restorer, quickly becomes aware of another Islamic radical plot taking shape. By sharp deduction, he realizes that the terrorist act is intended to take place in Britain.

In Britain, Allon is only moments too late to stop the kidnapping of the daughter of the American Ambassador to the UK. In the few moments he has at the scene, Allon kills several of the terrorists without hesitation. This is Allon's character. He does not stop to check with a lawyer. He does not pull out a copy of the Geneva Conventions. He takes whatever action is necessary, said action almost invariably inflicting anything from extreme psychological pressure to death on its subjects.

Allon is an unwelcome guest in most of Europe owing to his earlier exploits (which I now feel compelled to read of in the five earlier Allon novels). The aging boss of this branch of Israeli intelligence ("The Office") wants Allon to succeed him. Allon has very mixed emotions about his career as an assassin - and his girlfriend wants to get married now, not later. Silva paints Allon as a fairly deep person without turning him into fodder for a psychotherapist. But Allon is not the rootless drifter as, say, Jack Reacher, who will be familiar to thriller fans. And he is not the now totally wussified John Rain created by Barry Eisner. Allon, along with Rapp, are true action heroes.

Allon tracks the terrorists through Europe, playing their game just as adroitly as they do, but they still hold the edge, the captive they are threatening to murder if a terrorist held in a US prison is not set free. The hostage is the daughter of the best friend to the President and the man who financed his campaign, so the President becomes involved as well.

What Silva does best here is to paint the picture of a Europe that is increasingly subject to the demands of radical Islam. If you don't want to spend the time reading books like Melanie Phillips' Londonistanor Walter Laquer's The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent, Silva provides a crash course in how Europe is being decimated from within.

The terrorists are ruthless in their quest.

Gabriel Allon is more rutheless. The "kumbaya" crowd will not find Allon to their liking.

Silva does a grand job of building suspense as the clock winds down to the zero hour when the terrorists have promised to murder their captive if their demands are unmet. There are a number of plot twists that force both Allon and the terrorists to abruptly improvise - and they're all plausible - and violent.

The conclusion is satisfyingly violent and again, those who think that terrorism can be stopped at a conference table, will not find Gabriel Allon to be an appealing character.

As someone who fervently hopes that that Islamic radicalism will be stopped before it murders more, I found Allon appealing, the plot well done and Silva to be a master of the thriller. Again, it is too bad that there are not Gabriel Allons in the real world, but it is satisfying that we have them in fiction.

Jerry

This is not a bad novel by any means, but readers expecting a fast paced and suspenseful thriller - as I was - may be left feeling disappointed.

The first half of the book was great. It felt realistic, compelling and tense. However the action ground to a halt around the midway mark. (My husband actually gave up on it at this point). It continued in fits and starts, but there's something kind of wrong when you're 70 pages from the end of a thriller and don't feel compelled to see how it's going to finish. The ending dragged on and was underwhelming.

I also felt that the book was let down by the leaden dialogue - people speaking in explanations, saying things like: "you mean the covenant that forbids you from operating on European soil without first obtaining permission from the security service of the country involved" or "Islamic extremism is just the latest virus to thrive in Europe's nurturing environment" - people don't talk like that! On the other hand, Daniel Silva is very good at conveying a sense of location and I felt he nailed the mindset of an Israeli secret service agent.

I should mention that this was the first novel by Silva that I have read. In itself that did not affect my enjoyment of this book, although there did seem to be a lot of conversations between characters referring to action that took place in previous Gabriel Allon outings and if you are new to the series, it would probably be better to start with an earlier novel.

This story, like THE MESSENGER, is more than a good, fast paced story--it is thought provoking and challenges the reader to consider terrorism from a realistic perspective.

Daniel Silva paints a vivid picture of the motives and actions of Islamic Extremists. The Office does what has to be done, and Gabriel Allon is the doer.

The story point out how the news media, desperate for a scoop, will do anything to get one, with no regard for the consequences to individuals or their country. Sivla does a credible job of depicting how the U.S. and other Western countries hands are tied by political correctness and Western laws--laws that the terrorist use destroy country that is giving them sanctuary. In the end, both Great Brittan and America have to turn to Israel to do what has to be done.

Sivla also ties Islamic terrorism to the source of its funding--Saudi Arabia. The story ends with a warning. Will Gabriel is allowed to do what should be done in the next book?

Torture is subtle theme woven throughout the story. I commend Silva for his handling of the subject. Yes, torture does produce actionable results. His description of Islamic nation's use of torture is well done. Please note none of them use waterboarding.

The Secret Servant is a great, page turning read. It is also a prelude to what is coming to America. For a different type of story, where America does what has to be done, check out Behold, an Ashen Horse

In the usual Daniel Silva fashion, a terrific and plausable terrorist threat becomes real and this book becomes a real page turner. Highly recomend.

This book was hard to get into, but once you do, it's an okay read.

This book has it all - great characters, lots of action, interesting settings, timeliness. The author sure knows his stuff (politics, geography, hisory, spycraft), or at least sounds like it. A wonderful way to gain knowledge about some of the political events occuring in the Middle East. I can't wait for the movie - :)

Daniel Silva is still producing high quality international thrillers. This is among his best works. I can't wait for his next book.

Daniel Hechtman

Daniel Silva continues to capture my attention and keep it throughout his latest book. The plot is exciting, the characters well developed, and the ending - great. A page turner to be sure. Can't wait for the next one.

As always, this book is teriffic!!!

Gabriel Allon is a wonderful character.

I hope there will be more Gabriel in the future.

This latest in the Gabriel Allon series is a welcome return to the quality and excitement of the previous works after the misstep of "The Messenger." Allon continues to be an engaging character and the members of his team are becoming old friends. Hopefully the character of Chiara can be developed further rather than having her in limbo waiting for Gabriel to return home from time to time.

I will leave it to others to describe this particular novel, what I can contribute is perspective on the author as I have read all his books. Daniel Silva has the unusual talent to produce book after book with no discernable reduction in quality. As everyone knows many authors do a couple of great books then seem to run out of ideas. The Gabriel Allon series are all strong books like Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels. The only criticism I have is when Allon does something crazy. In The Secret Servant he agrees to deliver the ransom money to the terrorists which would certainly result in his demise ( It didn't ). In a previous book Allon agreed to go with the bad guys who had kidnapped his wife. These are not things a sane person would do. In general though Allon does very clever things and is an extremely interesting and talented person. I can't imagine anyone not enjoying Silva's books. 5 stars on all of them.

Daniel Silva has created an excellent addition to the Gabriel Allon series that is perhaps the best yet. Get ready for fast paced, edgy, current, and sometimes nail biting entertainment as Gabriel is assigned his latest case. He is dispatched to Holland to investigate the death of an Israeli "asset." From there Gabriel is once again embroiled in a situation that goes from troubling to terrifying within days. One of the things about this series that make it so good is that it is so disturbingly real. You know that you could pick up the newspaper any day and read about a similar incident taking place somewhere in the world. Readers who have followed the series, can especially enjoy the recurring well done secondary characters that appear in this novel. It's the whole package though that makes this series so entertaining; a brave, mysterious, sexy spy and all the contacts that he has come to work with and care for and finally the current day events that make us believe it is all true.

The story starts with Solomon Rosner working as professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, the Rosner Center for European Security Studies. Rosner was acting as both director and solo scholar and published a book called "The Islamic Conquest of the West". In the book, the Islamic plan was colonization of the Netherlands into a majority Muslim state. Rosner urge government to take immediate and drastic action to preserve Dutch society. The press media all agreed that the situation required tolerance and dialogue and not hateful rhetoric like Rosner's. Rosner responds that response was needed not capitulation. The Jihads became enraged over the book, stating, "Rosner the Jew must be dealt with harshly." Enroute to meeting, Rosner was shot by an assassin and beheaded as Iman ritual required and no one intervened.

Rosner was Ari Shamron's agent and his death was personal. Ari told Gabriel that Uzi would not be assigned to the job and that he would. Ari wants Gabriel to take the head of Israeli intelligence operations: "Does Shamron have a successor in mind?" "He wants the Office to be run by someone other than a soldier." Gabriel tells Uzi, "I'm an assassin, Uzi, and they don't make assassins the director". Navot chastises Gabriel, "Is this your plan? To leave the fighting to others? ... Fortress Israel is cracking under the strain of this war with out end...Its in our DNA because of the Holocaust...They delude themselves into thing that the Jewish National home is not in Palestine but in America." "You are not an art restorer. You are a secret servant of the State of Israel, and you have no right to leave the fighting to others."

Shamron tells Gabriel that Argentia is a hot bed for Hezbollah activity and that Amsterdam is becoming a Muslim city. "The young me were unemployed and angry, and they were being fed a stead diet of hate by their imams, most of whom were imported and funded by our friends in Saudi Arabia." "We also want to know whether any of our more determined enemies were using Amsterdam as a base of operations for major attacks against Israeli targets in Europe." Shamron tells Gabriel, "Rosner was my creation." "There was no shortage of people in Amsterdam who wanted Solomon dead. They finally found their man in Muhammad Hamza." Video connected Hamza to Rosner death as he voiced that "he killed his Jew". Gabriel wants to know is assignment, "We want the names of all those golden sources, but we also want to make sure there's nothing that might link him to us." "If it ever came out that he was our paid mouthpiece, the Jewish community in Holland might find itself at risk."

"British governments both Labour and Tory had thrown open their doors to the world's most harden holy warriors. Cast out by countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, and Syria, they had come to London, where they were free to publish, preach, organize, conspire, and raise money." "The primary incubator of violent ideology." "British security and intelligence services, confronted by a gathering storm, had responded by choosing a path of accommodation rather than resistance." The failure of the policy of appeasement had been held up for the world to see when three explosives tore up the London in 2005 and fifty-two people killed. 16,000 terrorist residing in Britain and 3,000 trained in al-Qaeda camps.

Gabriel and Lavon break into Egyptian native, Samir al-Masri's apartment and Gabriel sees pictures of Samir, "in Trafalgar Square and Samir with a member of the Queen's life Guard outside Buckingham palace; Samir ridin the Millennium Wheel and Samir outside the Houses of Parliament." "The last photograph, Samir posingwith four friends inform the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square caused Gabriel's heart to skip a beat." Gabriel later tells British intelligence, "I think an al-Qaeda cell from Amsterdam might have entered Britain in the last forty eight hours with the intention of carrying out an attack." Graham Seymour was not convinced: no surveillance, no emails, and no voice mails; and Gabriel points out the pictures prove the group was on a surveillance mission four months prior. Graham does believe the group fits the profile of a major attack. Gabriel tells Seymour, "The action cell members train and prepare in a place where we can't monitor them, then come ashore at the last minute, so we have no time to find them and disrupt their plans. Obviously, it would take complex planning and a skilled mastermind to pull it off." Gabriel wants Seymour to raise the overall threat level. Seymour does not respond, saying, "We don't like to move the needle on the threat meter each time we get nervous."

Gabriel discovers an important clue from Samir's yellow legal pad, the location of the attack. From a pencil rub Gabriel sees a pattern of criss-crossing lines and recognizes the layout to be Hyde park. Seymour tells Gabriel, "You want me to sound the alarm at Gosvenor Square because of some lines on a legal pad?" "I'm not going to do that. There's not enough evidence to support making a call like that."

The current American Ambassador to Court of St. James was Robert Carlyle Halton. Elizabeth Halton, Robert's daughter had become the terrorist target. Gabriel is unable to stop the abduction of Elizabeth Halton, but manages to kill a few terrorist and seriously injure another. The Sword of Allah group takes order from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Samir is part of the Sword of Allah group. The plot to kidnap Elizabeth Halton originated in Egypt under the direction of Zawahiri. Adrian Carter meets with Gabriel as they watch the terrorist hostage exchange video. Sheikh Tayyib wants to exchange Elizabeth for his brother Sheikh Addullah Abdul-Razzaq. Carter tells Gabriel, "Why is it that we've spent upward of fifty billion dollars propping up that regime, but you found out about the Sword connection before we did?" The central answer is that Israeli intelligence is better. Carter is against the exchange, "If Sheikh Abdullah Abdul Razzaq is allowed to return to Egypt, the Mubarak government will find itself in a very precarious state. For all its problems, Eqypt is still the most important country in the Arab world. If Egypt goes Islamic it will have a disastrous ripple effect across the region - disastrous for my country and yours." The terrorist want the fall of the Mubarak regime and replace it with an Islamic republic and use Egypt as a base of operation to wage a war against Israeli and the west. All under the umbrella of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama right hand man.

Gabriel knows he must find the Spinx, Yusef Ramadan and he will find Elizabeth.

The story starts with Solomon Rosner working as professor of sociology at the University of Amsterdam, the Rosner Center for European Security Studies. Rosner was acting as both director and solo scholar and published a book called "The Islamic Conquest of the West". In the book, the Islamic plan was colonization of the Netherlands into a majority Muslim state. Rosner urge government to take immediate and drastic action to preserve Dutch society. The press media all agreed that the situation required tolerance and dialogue and not hateful rhetoric like Rosner's. Rosner responds that response was needed not capitulation. The Jihads became enraged over the book, stating, "Rosner the Jew must be dealt with harshly." Enroute to meeting, Rosner was shot by an assassin and beheaded as Iman ritual required and no one intervened.

Rosner was Ari Shamron's agent and his death was personal. Ari told Gabriel that Uzi would not be assigned to the job and that he would. Ari wants Gabriel to take the head of Israeli intelligence operations: "Does Shamron have a successor in mind?" "He wants the Office to be run by someone other than a soldier." Gabriel tells Uzi, "I'm an assassin, Uzi, and they don't make assassins the director". Navot chastises Gabriel, "Is this your plan? To leave the fighting to others? ... Fortress Israel is crackingunder the strain of this war with out end...Its in our DNA because of the Holocaust...They delude themselves into thing that the Jewish National home is not in Palestine but in America." "You are not an art restorer. You are a secret servant of the State of Israel, and you have no right to leave the fighting to others."

Shamron tells Gabriel that Argentia is a hot bed for Hezbollah activity and that Amsterdam is becoming a Muslim city. "The young me were unemployed and angry, and they were being fed a stead diet of hate by their imams, most of whom were imported and funded by our friends in Saudi Arabia." "We also want to know whether any of our more determined enemies were using Amsterdam as a base of operations for major attacks against Israeli targets in Europe." Shamron tells Gabriel, "Rosner was my creation." "There was no shortage of people in Amsterdam who wanted Solomon dead. They finally found their man in Muhammad Hamza." Video connected Hamza to Rosner death as he voiced that "he killed his Jew". Gabriel wants to know is assignment, "We want the names of all those golden sources, but we also want to make sure there's nothing that might link him to us." "If it ever came out that he was our paid mouthpiece, the Jewish community in Holland might find itself at risk."

"British governments both Labour and Tory had thrown open their doors to the world's most harden holy warriors. Cast out by countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordon, and Syria, they had come to London, where they were free to publish, preach, organize, conspire, and raise money." "The primary incubator of violent ideology." "British security and intelligence services, confronted by a gathering storm, had responded by choosing a path of accommodation rather than resistance." The failure of the policy of appeasement had been held up for the world to see when three explosives tore up the London in 2005 and fifty two people killed. 16,000 terrorist residing in Britain and 3,000 trained in al-Qaeda camps.

Once again, a seemingly benign case leads Gabriel Allon, Israeli spy, into a complex plot. This time Islamic extremists capture the American ambassador to England's daughter. Allon is requested to assist in the recover operation. This novel is Silva's best yet. A real page turner. I won't spoil the plot but I am already looking forward to Silva's next. I am afraid he will somehow change the character since it is time for Allon to move up the ranks within his organization to director. Enjoy

This was the first book by Daniel Silva that I have read. I liked it so much that I ordered all of the rest of his books as soon as I finished it. My wife is now reading it and she can not lay it down.

I especially love these books about Gabriel Allon. This book was excellent and I recommend it to everyone.

"The Secret Servant" is another great book in the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva. The story is fiction but it certainly makes one think about the world today. Silva does not write "politically correct" fiction - he has the courage to tell it as it is and I thank him for that.

I like how Silva weaves characters from previous stories into this book. The only thing wrong is that I have finished reading "The Secret Servant" and now have to patiently wait until Mr. Silva writes and publishes the next book in this interesting series.

This book is an excellent read. Thank you, Daniel Silva!

Once again Daniel Silva delivers another fine thriller.

The Secret Servant continues the adventures of Gabriel Allon and is always topical and thought provoking.

If you have never read Silva, do start at the beginning and ENJOY!

There is never a risk involved with reading a Daniel Silva book -- the only unknown is whether it will be a very good book or an excellent book! In The Secret Servant Gabriel Allon, art restorer and spy, is involved in helping to save the daughter of the the US Ambassador to England who has been kidnapped by an Islamic terrorist group. In delivering a very well told story, rich in suspense, filled with multidimensional characters and ladened with interesting, very thought-provoking, yet scary, insights into the Islamification of Europe, Silva reinforces his position as one of the very top echelon of thriller writers. It is a book that will keep you engrossed from start to finish. I highly recommend The Secret Servant to you and I am already looking forward to this author's next work. I know whatever book Silva writes will be gold!

This book in the series about Gabriel Allon and the Israeli terror fighting group lived up to its predecessors. It was fast moving, unpredictable, brought back favorite characters from past books in the series and left you waiting for the next book. Daniel Silva makes the book very contemporary and uses cutting edge technology to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I like to follow a character through several novels, Jack Ryan, Scott Harvath, Alex Hawke to name a few. I like authors who do the research for what's going on in todays world. Often these plot lines are based on sources inside intelligent services with deferance to security of course. Bottom line, most of this stuff is happening somewhere in the world. This was the first novel by Daniel Silva i have read and I'm hooked, going to buy the rest. Very nicely paced, great action and intrigue. Picked it up on a recomendation on the radio, finished it in 3 days. Buy it.

Gabriel Allon is sent to Amsterdam to clean up after an informant is killed. There he learns of an Islamic plot to terrorize London. So he's off to London and almost thwarts the kidnapping of the US Ambassador's daughter. Then he's used by British and American intelligence to try to get her before the deadline set by the kidnappers.

There are many characters and locales in this story, but you don't need a scorecard to keep everyone straight...and, the majority of the characters are from Mr. Silva's previous book, The Messenger. While this is a work of fiction, the author does make the point that Islamic militants are everywhere and will stop at nothing to please Allah.

Daniel Silva has yet again written a novel that at the same time will entertain and scare the hell out of you; a novel as well researched and believable as LeCarre in his Cold War glory days, but moving at the pace of Follett or Forsythe at the top of their story-telling skills.

In "The Secret Servant", Gabriel Allon, the avenging angel of Israel's formidable secret service, is back to do battle again with the ever-rising tide of radical Islam terrorism. Sent to Amsterdam on a seemingly routine mission to clean up after an assassinated undercover agent, Allon unwittingly uncovers an Al Qaeda-like plot which leads him to London and Elizabeth Halton, the daughter of the US Ambassador to The United Kingdom. Unable - barely - to thwart Elizabeth's kidnapping, Allon sets out with his familiar cast of "citizens of the night" from Tel Aviv's intelligence service, taking him on what I thought his most challenging and harrowing assignment since the days of his youth when he was summoned to wreck vengeance on the Black September perpetrators of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.

While the main course in "Secret Service" is harrowing suspense and action, told with brutal force and free-flowing blood, the venue here is the very real and very dangerous Islamification of Europe. And while Silva's popularity certainly suffers from blunt talk that may offend the more sensitive or liberal-minded readers, this is a straightforward and intelligent dissection of the threats facing the west today. But it is hardly simple, one-sided, Zionist rhetoric, for while there is no doubt on which side of the conflict Silva falls, he paints a surprisingly balanced picture of the enormity of the issue, wrapping his fiction around radical Islam's rise from the brutal poverty in ghettos in Middle east, fomenting hate fueled by the blunders of the west, and especially of the secular governments in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

In short, gripping fiction with all the right adrenalin charged superlatives. But while the ending may be predictable, and the story is one that you'll recall with each new tale of terrorism in the headlines, "The Secret Servant" falls short on redemption, knowing that while individual acts of terror may be thwarted, the larger war rages on just below the that level of collective conscience we'd prefer not to acknowledge.

Daniel Silva gets better with each book.If you're a fan of the "literary spy genre", you're probably already familiar with his work, if not you're in for a treat.His research and attention to detail gives his works texture and substance not found in many novels today. I put this and all of Silva's books in the "literary" spy category because of the exceptional writing and thought provoking character and situational insights. It is ,however, also a "spy thriller".See for yourself - you won't be disappointed.

Silva continues to engage the reader within the first 3 pages and doesn't let go. He has an above average sophistication in every novel and I always hate to see the end coming. Just wish it could go on and on.....

Daniel Silva has done it again. A fun, fast paced read that is great at pointing out obvious, although unpleasant, truths! Hang on for a great ride!

Read it in only a few days. Very good. Characters remain fun to read. Not the best of the series, but close.

This is the best Gabriel Allon tale to date. Writing is tight and keeps the reader hooked from page one. I loved it!

The plot of THE SECRET SERVANT is simple enough. The daughter of the American ambassador to the Court of St. James, Elizabeth Halton, is kidnapped by Islamic jihadists during a morning jog in Hyde Park. Not only is Elizabeth the daughter of Robert Halton, friend to the U.S. President, but the latter is her godfather. Gabriel Allon, the veteran and insubordinate Israeli super spy, works with (or not) the U.S., British, and Danish secret services to get her back before she's executed.

THE SECRET SERVANT is a solid, absorbing read. But since it demonstrates no special cleverness or plot twists and the hero is, in my opinion, relatively uncharismatic compared to others perched on the bookshelves in hosts of other thrillers, e.g. Jack Reacher and Dan "Spider" Shepherd, I would give only 3 stars. (This is, after all, written to be entertainment.) However, I'm awarding four since author Daniel Silva effectively makes the point, both in the fictional narrative and in an Author's Note, as to the degree which radical Islam has embedded itself in British and other European societies. In the name of political and religious tolerance, the governments concerned have let the wolf in through the front door and the coming decades aren't going to be pretty.

In a recent issue of a national weekly news magazine, the hand-wringing reviewer of THE SECRET SERVANT took Allon to task for the violent methods his character employed to extract information from a wounded and helpless terrorist. And you know what? It didn't bother me one bit because I'm not keen on the choice Osama bin Laden would give us, i.e. convert to Islam or be beheaded.

This is a very entertaining book with very clear-cut characters. I liked the insight the author revealed about the mind of the jihadist. I am reminded about a book that Tom Clancy wrote about terrorists crashing a plane into the White House. It seemed a bit extreme -- at the time. Now it does not. Similarly, the damage that the terrorists wish to inflict upon the Americans and Europeans does not sound extreme at all. (Just read the recent news.) It really is a page-turner and the reader will enjoy it to the very last page!

Received the book quickly and in excellent condition. Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to read it as yet.

amazon seems to have removed my previous review including other reviewers' comments but here it is again:
The writer has fascinating insights, similar to Ayaan Hirsi, but the book never tries to live up to them. Predictable turn of events with (usually in the last 10-15 pages) predictable elimination of the main nemesis. The book-jacket is humorous, it compares the author to Graham Greene and John Le Carre.

The writer has fascinating insights, similar to Ayaan Hirsi, but the book never tries to live up to them. Predictable turn of events with (usually in the last 10-15 pages) predictable elimination of the main nemesis. The book-jacket is humorous, it compares the author to Graham Greene and John Le Carre.

Daniel Silva's THE SECRET SERVANT receives Phil Gigante's background as an actor and producer with over 20 years experience in theatre as it returns with another story of Gabriel Allon, a master art restorer and officer of Israeli intelligence summoned to undertake a routine assignment to purge archives of a murdered Dutch terrorism analyst. His routine job turns deadly quickly in a spellbinding cat-and-mouse listen.

I have read all of Daniel Silva books. This one was as good as the others and I can;t wait for more