Note: This is not so much a review of one book, but an overall impression of the Gabriel Allon series of novels by Daniel Silva.
Yesterday I started listening to—for the second time—the audio book: A Death in Cornwall. It is #24 in the Gabriel Allon series by Daniel Silva and, years ago, it was where I first met Allon, the charming Israeli intelligence officer and art restorer.
This book is where I first met a few of Gabriel’s cohorts, including Julian Isherwood, a London art dealer, and Sarah Bancroft, the former CIA officer turned art historian who runs Isherwood’s enterprises while Julian is at the local restaurants doing what he does best, exuding slightly unctuous charm. I remember thinking Isherwood was hilarious, and I was glad to find he was an ongoing presence in the series.
A Death in Cornwall places Gabriel back in Cornwall among the locals who, years back while he was on another case, tolerated him and loved his wife, Chiara. I’m glad to be back too, stepping with Gabriel onto the boat he restored with Detective Sergeant Timothy Peel, the policeman whom as a boy Gabriel befriended, gave refuge to, and eventually bequeathed the boat to. Their father-son relationship was healing for them both. But no spoilers here. Peel and Allon have reunited in Cornwall to solve a baffling case. Because that’s what Gabriel does.
When I first finished A Death in Cornwall, read by Eduardo Ballerini, I wanted more. So, I went back nearly to the beginning of the series. I say nearly because these days, I mostly listen to audio books. If you also listen to books, you know that the reader can make or break your experience and I just couldn’t warm up to the earliest narrators, but then I discovered George Guidall, who narrates the bulk of the series, and I was hooked. Ballerini takes over in the last books of the series.
Book by book, over the past two years, I’ve listened to Gabriel’s world unfold and have fallen in love with people and places and even an intractable goat on the island of Corsica. Some of my favorite characters are Christopher Keller, a former contract assassin turned British Intelligence agent, Ari Shamron, the aging (and also somehow always on the brink of death) former head of “The Office,” the Israeli intelligence command center, and Eli Lavon, the wry, but quiet surveillance expert who sometimes has to steer Gabriel back into a more rational course of action. I can’t imagine sustaining character development over a series of 25+ books, but Silva does it very well.
Silva also does a great job of placing readers in the setting, from the snowy streets of Moscow to the glittering balcony view of a Venetian canal. Truthfully, being able to travel vicariously through these books was one of the reasons I kept going back. I’ve been to nearly every major city in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States too.
In another life, Gabriel Allon should have been a world-renown painter, but his abilities and a tragic event drew him into the secret world of espionage. Nevertheless, his knowledge of art and his ability to create, restore, and even forge paintings adds a depth to these books that I am drawn to. In another life, I might have been an artist.
No, these books aren’t going to be among the world’s pantheon of literary classics, but they’re well done and highly entertaining. I also like the way Silva integrates real world events and figures (or their fictional counterparts) into his books. The Russian president has a different name, but we all know who Silva is referring to. Same with a certain Saudi prince and American president.
Between other books that require a bit more mental focus, I return to Silva and a familiar cast of characters. There is comfort in going to places I’ve been before. A joy in the “inside” jokes or the comfortable intimacies between Gabriel and those he loves. When a character who’s not been around a while pops up again, it’s like reuniting with an old friend.
Twenty-six is out soon, but I’m nearing the end of this series and I’m going to be sad to not have another book instantly in my queue. I suppose I’m going to have to find another such series. Or like I did with Downton Abbey, start all over again. There are some things you just can’t quit.