From Publishers Weekly Bestseller Silva continues to warrant comparisons to John le Carré， as shown by his latest thriller starring Israeli art restorer and spymaster Gabriel Allon. Ahmed bin Shafiq， a former chief of a clandestine Saudi intelligence unit， targets the Vatican for attack， in particular Pope Paul VII and his top aide， Monsignor Luigi Donati， who both appeared in Silva's previous novel， Prince of Fire. Shafiq， who now heads his own terrorist network， is allied with a militant Islamic Saudi businessman known as Zizi， a true believer committed to the destruction of all infidels. Gabriel's challenge is to infiltrate Zizi's organization， a task he assigns to a beautiful American art expert， Sarah Bancroft. Gabriel promises he'll protect her， but plans go awry， and by the end Sarah faces torture and death. While Sarah's fate is never in doubt， the way Silva resolves his plot will keep readers right where he wants them: on the edges of their seats. Copyright © Reed Business Information， a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine The five previous spy thrillers featuring Gabriel Allon addressed topics including the Munich Olympics massacre， Yasir Arafat， and the Vatican. The Messenger， about global terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism， resounded just as loudly with critics. Fortunately， Daniel Silva has also written an ingenious， thrilling， and entertaining book with complex characters and settings， from London and Jerusalem to Rome， that serve the plot well. While one critic cited Silva's bias toward Israel， the majority felt that the author created characters with different perspectives and left readers to form their own opinions. In the end， they agreed that "Gabriel Allon remains one of the most intriguing heroes of any thriller series" (Philadelphia Inquirer).Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews