Gabriel Allon books: Always good, and this one was even better.

“The Secret Servant” is the seventh book in the Gabriel Allon series. At this point, Allon’s team has become a well-oiled counter-terrorism team.

I thought the previous Gabriel Allon book (book six’s The Messenger) had an over-the-top storyline. This storyline for this book is more basic: a girl is kidnapped, and if conditions are not met by a fixed deadline, she will be killed. I prefer this type of storyline, where the plot’s incredulousness is not as blatant.

As is often the case with books in this series, there is a mysterious terrorist mastermind who is only known of by his reputation. Also, some of the terrorists are a bit predictable in their behavior, while other terrorists are much better at subterfuge. By now, such antagonists are typical for a Gabriel Allon story. But the protagonists, their planning and the lethal execution of those plans continue to make for a story that is interesting and exciting, yet in some ways, also thoughtful.

I think Gabriel himself is becoming a bit of a caricature. He’s getting older, yet the women who fall in love with him seem to be getting younger and younger. And he’s so noble that he keeps selflessly putting himself in harm’s way (allowing his adversaries to beat the crap out of him).

Bottom line: Another high-quality Gabriel Allon story, but thankfully, with a more plausible storyline than some of the book’s predecessors.

If you like reading a good Bourne type book you will like the Gabriel Allon series.

Interesting idea. I quite like the storyline and character development. However, what I really enjoyed was the ending. In spite of the terrorist attempting to blow up a huge crowd Gabriel Allon manages to stop it and kill the bad guys.

A good read.

A great story. It's completely amazing that this was written before the "Arab Spring" and the details about Egypt are prophetic.

Yet another awesome story in this series w/ a surprise we've all been waiting for at the end. Woot! My favorite of them all.

I love Silva's Gabriel Allon series. Each book is a gripping tale of international intrigue. I docked this episode one star because it is even more improbable than its predecessors, but that did not affect my enjoyment much. Silva is a fantastic writer, pacing the plot along with new information and unforseeable twists throughout. Yet again, Gabriel narrowly avoids death several times, gets beaten severely, criss crosses Europe in pursuit of the evil terrorists and gets the bad guy in the end. There is even a surprise happy ending to boot. Highly recommended, but one should start at the beginning of the series.

I am still enjoying these Gabriel Allon novels. They are formulaic in nature and Gabriel is getting a bit old to continually receive these bumps and bruises but I like the stories. And, I feel compelled to learn more about the topics brought forth in these novels. This one had Allon saving a kidnapped daughter of an American ambassador and foiling Islamic terrorist plots. I liked the story of Ibrahim Fawaz the best in this. It felt the most human of the characters coming in and out.