I have to admit, Portrait of a Spy confused me. The opening sequence where Israeli spy Gabriel Allon was relaxing on the Cornwall coast in Southwest England was similar enough to the opening of The Rembrandt Affair, I thought I was re-reading Daniel Silva’s last novel. Once I realized it was indeed the new novel, I settled down for what is always an enjoyable Silva spy novel. In Portrait of a Spy, Europe is hit by suicide bombers and retired Mossad agent Allon once again becomes involved in the hunt for the terrorists. Silva portrays the CIA as a once-strong but now ineffective agency where things are so bad, one of its directors, Adrian Carter, must to personally finance his legal defense against a justice department investigation into actions during the war on terror. Carter must also rely on Allon and his elite Mossad team to determine who in fact is the mastermind behind the bombings. Allon, of course, has previously crossed paths with the leader of the terrorist group, and he recruits an unlikely ally in the operation. Not much can be said without spoiling things, other than when I finished the book, I felt much the same as I did after watching the movie Evita, starring Madonna. An unexpected emotion following another great Silva spy thriller.

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