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The English Assassin
  

The English Assassin [Large Print] (Hardcover)

by Daniel Silva (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)

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1 new from CDN$ 137.82 4 used from CDN$ 90.80

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From Amazon.com

The English Assassin brings back Gabriel Allon, the appealingly melancholy art restorer with a double life as an Israeli secret agent, first introduced in 2000's The Kill Artist. Gabriel is sent to Zurich under a pseudonym to restore a Raphael belonging to a prominent Swiss banker and art collector, Augustus Rolfe, but upon arriving he finds Rolfe lying in a pool of blood. When Gabriel tries to leave Zurich, the Swiss police capture him immediately--and moreover, they know his real identity. He's released through some diplomatic string-pulling, but he soon discovers that Rolfe had requested a meeting with Israeli intelligence, for reasons unknown, just before his death.

Rolfe's daughter, Anna, is a world-class violinist attempting to rebuild her career after an accident that nearly destroyed one of her hands. But her physical scars are nothing compared to those on her psyche, left by her mother's suicide when Anna was a teenager. Temperamental and mistrustful, she nevertheless believes Gabriel's story, and reveals that Rolfe owned a secret collection of priceless French Impressionist paintings, apparently stolen by his murderers.

As Gabriel begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle, he faces two adversaries: a powerful group of men who would do anything to bury the past forever, and a hired killer who's planning a spectacular murder. Like The Kill Artist, The English Assassin balances fascinating characters, authentic-sounding historical detail, and plenty of glamorous international intrigue on the edge of a knife-keen plot. --Barrie Trinkle --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



From Publishers Weekly

Switzerland's shameful behavior in WWII provides the backdrop for this superbly crafted thriller that puts Silva at the forefront of his generation of foreign intrigue specialists. Here, the former CNN correspondent also appears to have settled on a main character to propel his promising line Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and Israeli hit man who starred in last year's acclaimed The Kill Artist. Just a few pages into this sequel, Allon finds himself the apparent victim of a double cross. When he arrives to restore a Raphael owned by reclusive Swiss banker Augustus Rolfe, Allon not only discovers the banker dead but finds himself the number one suspect. The charge doesn't stick, however, and when he is released from custody, he vows to find out who tried to frame him. His first stop is Rolfe's daughter, Anna, one of the world's top violinists and a woman haunted by her family's heritage of wartime greed and cruelty. Allon catches the attention of Switzerland's secretive power structure, which intends to stymie any further investigation into Rolfe's murder and the theft of his suspiciously acquired art collection. The so-called Council of Rtli contracts with a shadowy hit man, known only as the Englishman, to eliminate Allon and anyone else who threatens to expose Switzerland's past. The action unfolds in tightly focused scenes played out across a spectrum of European capitals and more pastoral settings. As a historical framework, the secrets of the Bahnhofstrasse are well-trod territory, yet Silva's sophisticated treatment polished prose, an edgy mood, convincing research gives his plot a crisp, almost urgent quality. Agent, Esther Newberg of ICM. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 national advertising campaign.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

58 Reviews
5 star:
 (29)
4 star:
 (18)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (58 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The English Assassin is an intelligent, and informed thrillr, Mar 13 2006
Daniel Silva's fourth novel, introduced an unusual but credible new hero: Gabriel Allon, a world-class art restorer and former member of the Israeli Secret Service. The Kill Artist brought Allon out of retirement to confront the Palestinian agent who destroyed his family. In Allon's latest adventure, The English Assassin, he comes out of retirement once again and finds himself enmeshed in a murder investigation whose roots reach back to the cataclysmic policies of Nazi Germany.

Allon's involvement begins when he accepts a commission to restore a priceless Raphael original. He travels to Zurich, only to find that his client -- wealthy Swiss banking magnate Augustus Rolfe -- has been shot to death just hours before. On the heels of that discovery, Allon is arrested by the Swiss police and narrowly avoids prosecution. When Allon's former mentor, legendary spymaster Ari Shamron, informs him that Rolfe had recently requested a meeting with the Israeli Secret Service, Allon launches an investigation of his own.

At the heart of the novel's central mystery lies another mystery. According to the victim's daughter, world-famous violinist Anna Rolfe, a valuable collection of Impressionist paintings disappeared from Rolfe's house at the time of the murder. The paintings, as Allon discovers, may have been part of the vast collection looted by the Nazis before and during World War II. As Allon pursues the missing paintings, he begins to understand the close -- in fact, collaborative -- relationship that once existed between the Nazi hierarchy and the wealthy banking community of neutral Switzerland.

Silva's prose is clean and uncluttered, his action sequences crisp and effective, his sense of place impeccable, and his varied cast of characters all sharply individualized. Ultimately, though, it's the impressive level of secondary detail -- the scrupulous historical research, the insights into the arcane world of the professional art restorer -- that give this book its distinctive flavor and lift it above the level of the garden variety espionage novel. Another incredible novel on topic is Giorgio Kostantinos's~~The Quest~.

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3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting new protagonist in the world of intrigue thrillers!, Jul 31 2009
By Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
As most international spy vs spy intrigue type thrillers are wont to do, Daniel Silva's latest thriller, "The English Assassin", moves from locale to locale across Europe with rather dizzying speed.

Silva's underlying premise to the story is the fact that Switzerland, while claiming neutrality during WW II, was actually considerably less than a mere sideline observer to the proceedings of the war. Indeed, it appears that not only were they willing participants in Nazi Germany's veritable raping and pillaging of galleries, personal collections, museums, churches and public buildings of the priceless art treasures they contained, but they were also private bankers and money laundering agents for the senior members of the Nazi elite. The aristocratic families of the Swiss banking oligarchy, having become unimaginably wealthy through this illicit relationship, will now do almost anything to prevent a modern world from exposing their sordid history and forcing the return of the ill-gotten art treasures and the related wealth to their rightful owners.

Gabriel Allon, one of the world's foremost art restorers (and, coincidentally, a member of the Israeli Secret Service) has been commissioned to restore a Raphael painting belonging to Swiss banker, Augustus Rolfe. When he arrives at Rolfe's home, he is shocked to discover that Rolfe has been brutally murdered and that he is the number one suspect in the crime. The Swiss police are unable to make the charges stick and when Allon is released with orders to leave the country and never return, he vows to investigate to discover who was responsible for such an obvious set-up and (you'll pardon the pun) frame job!

He returns undercover to Switzerland seeking to question Rolfe's daughter, Anna, a world famous violinist, and, as Sherlock Holmes put it so very often, the game was afoot! Allon and Rolfe are now the targets of a shadowy assassin hired by a secretive Swiss cabal of bankers who intend to ensure that the secrets of WW II remain locked in Swiss vaults and safe from prying outside eyes!

In Gabriel Allon, Daniel Silva has created a memorable hero with significant colour and depth that fans will want to follow further. In this particular story, the clever pairing of a reclusive art restorer with a moody, temperamental, world class concert violinist allows for an extremely interesting exploration of the arts world in Europe, from both historical and current points of view. While not quite at the level of travelogue, Silva's attention to detail in placing his action in various European cities provides an extra dose of reality and interest to a plot that is already quite satisfying.

"The English Assassin" is certainly more than workmanlike and, while I enjoyed it, I thought it less than spectacular. The genre of intrigue thrillers is a crowded one, indeed, and while it benefits from Silva's addition, "The English Assassin" is not a standout such as Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle" or Jack Higgin's "The Eagle Has Landed".

Recommended.

Paul Weiss
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4.0 out of 5 stars Master storyteller at work, Jul 4 2007
By Mary Ellen (St. Catharines, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
Great read ! Hooks you right away. Murder, art, Vienna, Paris, Zurich, Nazis- it's got it all ! Fast paced - breathtaking plot twists. Perfect for the cottage
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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Strong Effort
This book is very well written and definitely holds your interest with well defined characters and a tight plot.
Published on Jun 9 2006 by April

4.0 out of 5 stars Hooked from the first chapter
Silva hooked me into this novel in the first chapter and never let up. I won't repeat the story line here; but will tell you that the twists and turns of this story will keep you... Read more
Published on Jul 7 2004 by S. Lyons

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening page turner
What I liked most about "The English Assasin" in terms of entertainment was its unrelentless action, chapter after chapter and of course its underlying message. Read more
Published on Jun 21 2004 by Manuel Gwiazda

4.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Novel...
I had never heard of Daniel Silva nor seen any of his works until I walked into my local library about a week ago and saw this novel. Read more
Published on Jun 17 2004 by Bubbles

4.0 out of 5 stars A Spy Novel With a Bit of History
This is the second Silva book I have read, having read the Kill Artist last year. I have been impressed with Mr. Read more
Published on April 12 2004 by Gary Turner

5.0 out of 5 stars An Intelligent Spy Thriller
I am now amazed at how Daniel Silva's book entrance me every time I pick them up to read. I love his WORK! Read more
Published on Mar 29 2004 by Edward Saunders Jr.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great spy thriller!
This was my first read of a Daniel Silva novel, and won't be my last. The characters are damaged and fallible, which always makes for an interesting read. Read more
Published on Mar 23 2004 by Holly CP

5.0 out of 5 stars Spine chilling page turner
This is the first Daniel Silva work that I have read and I am sure it will not be my last. His writing style pulls you in from one chapter to the next, with no blank spots. Read more
Published on Mar 13 2004 by Stephen M. Zielinski

4.0 out of 5 stars The new master of the international spy thriller
Gabriel Allon is an art restorer living in England. He is also a highly trained Israeli agent used by the Foreign Ministry headed by his boss Ariel Shamron. Read more
Published on Feb 25 2004 by Larry Gandle

4.0 out of 5 stars being a true proffesional
When an Israeli reads a book about a Mossadnik written by a foreign author, s/he tends to be somewhat doubtful about the accuracy of details in that book; Daniel Silva's research... Read more
Published on Feb 18 2004 by Steinberg Shlomit

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