| | |  | Amazon Kindle | Home » » » Prince of Fire (Gabriel Allon Novels) | | | | | | | Description: | | Gabriel Allon faces his most determined enemy-and greatest challenge-in the stunning novel from the world-class practitioner of spy fiction. | | | Product Details: | | | Average Customer Rating:
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89 of 95 found the following review helpful:
 Silva is superb.Feb 22, 2005
By E. Bukowsky
"booklover10"
Daniel Silva has followed up his terrific trilogy with another outstanding novel. "Prince of Fire" brings back Gabriel Allon, a gifted art restorer and master spy who has settled down in Venice with the lovely Chiara, whom he hopes to marry. After a tempestuous life filled with tragedy and violence, Allon is trying to find the peace of mind that has thus far eluded him. A huge bomb destroys the Israeli embassy in Rome and sinks any hope that Allon can live a placid life free of bloodshed.
Ari Shamron, who is now seventy-five, was once the head of Israel's secret service and Gabriel's mentor. He is now a special advisor to Israel's prime minister. Shamron visits Gabriel in Italy and informs him that Palestinian terrorists have uncovered Gabriel's true identity and may be targeting him for assassination. He urges Gabriel to come out of retirement and lead a team that will hunt down a Palestinian mastermind named Khaled al-Khalifa. This man is believed to be responsible not only for the attack in Rome, but also for two earlier blasts in Buenos Aires and Istanbul that killed over one hundred Jews.
"Prince of Fire" is intricate, fast-paced, and absorbing. Without sermonizing or pontificating, Silva explores the politics of hatred in the Middle East. He skillfully traces the trail of terror that has left this region in a constant state of fear and mourning for so many years. As we have come to expect from Silva, he writes exciting, suspenseful, and unpredictable action sequences that contain fascinating details about how spies operate.
All of Silva's characters are well drawn, but Gabriel Allon is in a class by himself. He has suffered great personal losses from which he can never completely recover. Although he has repeatedly hunted down and slaughtered the enemies of his people, Gabriel remains a compassionate man who values human life. In this book, he is confronted with a terrifying moral dilemma, and one particular scene in which he must make a split-second, life or death decision is simply electrifying. "Prince of Fire" proves, once again, that Daniel Silva has mastered the art of writing espionage thrillers with intelligence, depth, and heart.
22 of 23 found the following review helpful:
Now THAT'S entertainment!Mar 31, 2005
By Michael D. Trimble
An absolutely fabulous story and without a doubt the most enjoyable book I have read in a long time. Daniel Silva has proven once again that he is a gifted storyteller and one of the best at international espionage and intrigue.
This fascinating Silva book is another in the Gabriel Allon series. For those of you who don't know, Allon is the physically underwhelming yet world renowned art restorer, who lives a double life in the Israeli Intelligence Service. Once "activated" Allon has no peer as the secret protector of Israeli security. Allon finds the really bad guys, the ones that nobody else wants to track. Allon goes where all others fear to tread and brings the bad guys to justice, whether that means the justice of the court, the justice of some form of imprisonment, or the justice of the assassin's bullet.
In this book Allon reluctantly abandons his precious work in Vienna, at the Chapel of San Giavanni Crisostomo, where he has spent months on the restoration of a famous Bellini altarpiece. His mission is a search for the terrorist mastermind behind a recent horrific and deadly bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Rome. All indications are that there is much more death and destruction to follow, so Gabriel is in a rush to find this terrorist before he strikes again. Along the way he learns that the life of his target and his own life are inextricably interwoven. The chase, which does not disappoint, covers a lot of ground and takes the reader from Rome, to Venice, Cairo, London, Paris and Jerusalem, and along the way Silva gives a factual history lesson from 1910 to the present, on the struggles between the Palestinians and the Israelis. This history lesson alone is almost worth of the price of the book!
I have read the comparisons others have made to Silva's writing and I will add a comparison of my own. In Silva I see an early Ludlum. I certainly feel the same sort of thrill reading Silva that I did more than 25 years ago reading Ludlum. Silva's books are every bit as exciting, the plots are equal to or better than Ludlum when he was at his best. Silva has my unqualified recommendation; you simply can not go wrong reading one of his books!
36 of 42 found the following review helpful:
"He was no one, he lived nowhere...the eternal wandering Jew."Feb 23, 2005
By Mary Whipple
In his fourth novel-adventure, art restorer Gabriel Allon is recalled to action by the Israeli intelligence service for which he once worked. A massive truck bomb at the Israeli embassy in Rome and the shooting of fleeing victims has left fifty-two dead. When the Israelis obtain a computer disk from the terrorists' house outside of Milan, they discover recent photos of Gabriel Allon and his lover, notes about his real identity, and details of his sanctioned killing of Black September members, along with the second in command in the PLO. Yassir Arafat himself ordered reprisals against Allon, which resulted in the death of Allon's son and the maiming of his wife in a car bombing.
Believing the Rome bombing to be connected to the bombings of a Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires in 1994 and the bombing of Istanbul's main synagogue in 2003, Allon and his mentor, Ari Shamron, an advisor to the prime minister of Israel, soon focus on three generations of a single family. Sheikh Asad led the Arab Revolt in 1936, unleashing deadly attacks all over Israel, until he was assassinated on orders of Yitzhak Rabin. The Sheik's son, Sabri, a friend of Yassir Arafat, accepted his father's terrorist mantle, until he was eliminated. Sabri's orphaned son, young Khaled, adopted by Yassir Arafat, is believed to be behind the recent spate of bombings of Jewish buildings around the world. Allon is now assigned to find and execute him.
The novel, the fourth in the Allon series, is filled with familiar main characters from the past, both in Allon's personal life and in his life as part of the Israeli security service. These familiar "faces" and the numerous references to Allon's previous adventures add depth and important historical background to this novel. The past relationships of characters and their interconnections are written clearly so new readers will not become confused, as Allon and Shamron try to find Khaled and prevent another attack, this time in France.
Silva is a particularly efficient novelist, writing in an exciting narrative style which keeps the tension high while he explores contemporary issues. He is a master at juggling subplots and developing his characters, especially his flawed main character, Gabriel Allon. His inclusion of real people, such as Itzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat, gives immediacy to the action, and his background information on the continuing war between the Arabs and Jews for the land in Palestine gives a sense of context to this long-standing enmity. Beautifully paced, the novel offers glimpses of life in contemporary Israel and the historic reasons for the violence there. Mary Whipple
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Silva Pens Another Masterpiece..A Must Read!!Mar 03, 2005
By John R. Linnell
In his fifth novel featuring the art restorer and Israeli sometime assassin, Gabriel Allon, author Daniel Silva delivers another gripping chapter in the difficult life of his central character. The title comes from a comment that was made by Allon's mentor, Ari Shamron when Allon returned as a young man from his first assassination on behalf of Israel. Allon's black hair had gone gray at the temples as a result of a traumatic reaction to the event, which caused Shamron to call them "smudges of ash on the prince of fire."
In this book, following an explosion at the Israeli embassy in Rome it is discovered that the Palestinians have uncovered Allon's identity, his bloddy past and have marked him for elimination. Moving swiftly on this news Allon is extracted from Venice and returned to Israel.
An analysis of a series of attacks that have been carried out prior to Rome reveals that a master terrorist is at work in planning and carrying them out and Allon is detailed to determine the man's identity and to track him down and eliminate him.
Too much detail in describing how the puzzle is solved and the obstacles that are put in the way would spoil the story, but suffice it to say that once the man is identified, Allon's troubles are only begining.
Silva does his usual masterful job of weaving this fictional story around the current events in the Middle East, utilizing some real characters to give weight to the tale and also educating the reader with some historical facts concerning the creation of the State of Israel and how the Palestinian problem came to be.
The good news for the reader is that there appears to be more to come, but getting current with the adventures of Gabriel Allon is quite sufficient for now.
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Reviews by Nan Kilar and Bobby MillerMar 09, 2006
By Bobby W. Miller
"KILL ME IF YOU CAN"
The prince of fire is back in this intriguing story from Daniel Silva. Gabriel Allon is living in Venice, doing his art restoration work, and planning to marry the beautiful Chiara. His old friend and mentor from the Israeli secret service, Ari Shamron, recruits him once again to do a job for the Office--investigate the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Rome. Gabriel reluctantly agrees to return to Israel and be re-employed by the Office. Gabriel and his team soon learn the guy behind the bombing is the son and grandson of two notorious Arab terrorists. Khaled was allegedly taken in by Yassir Arafat when his father was murdered and is now believed to be carrying on the family's tradition of terror. Gabriel sets out to find Khaled and, of course, runs into major troubles.
The story is involved and I won't go into any great details here or spoil it for you. It's a somewhat sad, somewhat happy time for Gabriel and we may read more about him in the future. Suffice it to say, this is a great story and good history lesson (much of it is based on fact). Don't miss this one! Especially if you've read the previous Allon stories.
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