James T. reviewed on 9/3/2009 + 2 more book reviews

Gabriel Allon has tragically lost his wife and his only child to a terrorist's car bomb. He had been a master spy for the Israeli government and had assassinated the car bomb terrorist's older brother. The killing of Gabriel's wife and child had been retribution by the younger brother, Tariq. Emotionally damaged because he thought his wife and child had been killed only because he was an Israeli spy, Gabriel leaves the spy business and devotes his time restoring works of art and sailboats in need of restoration.

Gabriel's old cunning and curmudgeonly trainer/boss from Israel's spy center--the Office--persuades him to return to work for Israel. He needs Gabriel to return so that the reputation of the Office can be restored to its previous impressive reputation and widely held respect. Once Gabriel learns that his assignment would be to assassinate his dying old nemesis, Tariq, he reluctantly agrees to come aboard as a hired gun, not an employee. He became disillusioned with much of what he saw and did as an employee of the Office and no longer wanted that relationship. This was to be a one-time assignment.

The story line takes us to such places as London, Holland, Paris, Montreal, New York, and, of course, many places in Israel. We meet high priced models, powerful media owners, other Israel spies, CIA operatives, and many run-of-the mill people. The undercurrent to all of this are lies, diversions, and manipulation. Everyone seems to be doing it to each other and to us.

The characters are realistic and we learn to care about all of them, even the terrorists. They all have a story to tell. They all believe they have more than enough justification for doing what they did and are now doing. So exactly who are the good guys and who are the bad?

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