Cost: $6.98US
Page Count: 467
Daniel Silva writes a good spy story. Simple. Period. He's does the espionage genre right. For that, I respect his game. Silva has not tried to branch out and write love stories (looking at you, Patterson) and hasn't tried his hand in the alien game (and looking at you King). He stays to what has worked best for him, his magic formula if you will, and does a bang up job.
The Heist had been one of the few of Silva's works that I had not read. It's fairly new-ish and, as you can guess, I don't buy new books. So, I had to give it time to grow stale so I could pluck it from one of my favorite discount bookstores. But, the jacket description intrigued me, I like his books anyway...well, it was a perfect storm for me to read the sucker.
Art. Gabriel Allon, the master spy and protagonist in all of Silva's work, is a master art restorer. Many a book of Silva's starts with the work that Allon is performing now...stripping the veneer of an old master, touching up the hand of a fallen angel, blah blah blah. The reader knows that the cover of an art restorer has worked well over the years. But, one gets the feeling that as years have progressed, Allon just likes to do it and everyone seems to know who he really is. That was the fun about the older books....no one knew! That varnish has seemed to peel off, however.
But, I digress. The Heist is all about Allon's art buddy Isherwood stumbling into a murder and a whole scheme ass backwards, Forrest Gump-style. As per usual, Allon declares it his duty to fix things for his friend. However, like an onion, the layers reveal that Isherwood has Gumped his way into a cluster fuck.
To help his friend, all Allon has to do is find the most famous missing piece of art in the world...a Carvaggio. No easy task, this painting has been missing for decades. Anyway, one thing is clear: if Gabriel can help the Italian cops find the Carvaggio he will find the killers for the murder that Isherwood is being blamed for and that will clear his friend's name. It's actually a straightforward story that has all the twists and turns you would expect in a Silva novel.
When Gabriel and his team head to Austria for the final confrontation, his team is assisted by an unlikely hero...a girl. Don't want to give away to much here. But, the girl has been seriously wronged in the past by the killers/thieves and is persuaded (Israeli-style) to participate in the operation. It's a pretty cool turn of events that you will just have to read for yourselves.
I don't like to give away the endings of the book...if I like the book. If the book is shit, yes I will tell you all the ending. Fuck it, the book sucks you might as well give the ending away free, right? Anyway, The Heist is one of Silva's better recent works. Therefore, you get no spoiler from me.
Anyway, The Heist is a really great, really quick read. Crack it open, grab a beer, turn on the football game of your choice and sit back with a spy novel. By the end of the day, you should have it finished, have a nice little buzz on, and be satisfied with the book that you just read.
Cheers!
Daniel Silva writes a good spy story. Simple. Period. He's does the espionage genre right. For that, I respect his game. Silva has not tried to branch out and write love stories (looking at you, Patterson) and hasn't tried his hand in the alien game (and looking at you King). He stays to what has worked best for him, his magic formula if you will, and does a bang up job.The Heist had been one of the few of Silva's works that I had not read. It's fairly new-ish and, as you can guess, I don't buy new books. So, I had to give it time to grow stale so I could pluck it from one of my favorite discount bookstores. But, the jacket description intrigued me, I like his books anyway...well, it was a perfect storm for me to read the sucker.
Art. Gabriel Allon, the master spy and protagonist in all of Silva's work, is a master art restorer. Many a book of Silva's starts with the work that Allon is performing now...stripping the veneer of an old master, touching up the hand of a fallen angel, blah blah blah. The reader knows that the cover of an art restorer has worked well over the years. But, one gets the feeling that as years have progressed, Allon just likes to do it and everyone seems to know who he really is. That was the fun about the older books....no one knew! That varnish has seemed to peel off, however.
But, I digress. The Heist is all about Allon's art buddy Isherwood stumbling into a murder and a whole scheme ass backwards, Forrest Gump-style. As per usual, Allon declares it his duty to fix things for his friend. However, like an onion, the layers reveal that Isherwood has Gumped his way into a cluster fuck.
To help his friend, all Allon has to do is find the most famous missing piece of art in the world...a Carvaggio. No easy task, this painting has been missing for decades. Anyway, one thing is clear: if Gabriel can help the Italian cops find the Carvaggio he will find the killers for the murder that Isherwood is being blamed for and that will clear his friend's name. It's actually a straightforward story that has all the twists and turns you would expect in a Silva novel.
When Gabriel and his team head to Austria for the final confrontation, his team is assisted by an unlikely hero...a girl. Don't want to give away to much here. But, the girl has been seriously wronged in the past by the killers/thieves and is persuaded (Israeli-style) to participate in the operation. It's a pretty cool turn of events that you will just have to read for yourselves.
I don't like to give away the endings of the book...if I like the book. If the book is shit, yes I will tell you all the ending. Fuck it, the book sucks you might as well give the ending away free, right? Anyway, The Heist is one of Silva's better recent works. Therefore, you get no spoiler from me.
Anyway, The Heist is a really great, really quick read. Crack it open, grab a beer, turn on the football game of your choice and sit back with a spy novel. By the end of the day, you should have it finished, have a nice little buzz on, and be satisfied with the book that you just read.
Cheers!
