"The Fallen Angel" by Daniel Silva

In The Fallen Angel, Gabriel Allon is an Israeli Intelligence officer who isn't happy with a life full of danger, death and explosions, and so after nearly losing his life in his last operation he decided to defect and seek refuge with the Vatican.

Surprisingly, Gabriel is also a capable art restorer (a mandatory skill for Israeli Intelligence officers) and thus decides to spend his time at the Vatican by restoring one of Caravaggio’s masterpieces.

On a morning like any other Gabriel is summoned by Monsignor Luigi Donati, the Pope’s private secretary. The body of a woman lies beneath the dome. The Vatican police, proving that even the pope’s policemen are the same as the cops in the rest of the world, suspect suicide which is good enough for them.

Naturally, Gabriel knows much better… and so does Donati. The problem however is that Donati understands that publicly enquiring about such manners may put the Church at the center of a juicy scandal, and so Gabriel is to do find the murderer. Oh and before he sets off on his adventure, Donati cautions Gabriel that the first rule at the Vatican is not to ask too many questions.

Gabriel follows some clues and soon finds himself face-to-face with a global criminal organization that specializes in stealing and selling timeless treasures, most of them antiques.

Of course, this criminal network has a life of its own and it seems that Gabriel isn’t the only one who wants to do something about it. An inner member of the network is planning something so grand and terrible that the entire world may very well be plunged into chaos.

While there are many novels out there which fail because they simply wanted to cover too many topics, in this case it all works out for the best. The book contains a fair mix of art, history, romance, and of course, mystery and intrigue.

The book moves at a relatively fast pace that won’t leave you bored with overly long descriptions or meaningless chatter. Daniel Silva didn’t just create a story here… he created some kind of alternative universe, complete with spies, lovers, masters, servants, priests, thieves and murderers.

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Daniel Silva Personal site Daniel Silva is an American author renowned for his numerous espionage and thriller novels. His first publication was made back in 1996, The Unlikely Spy, and became a New York Times bestseller, launching off his career. He is the recipient of the 2007 Barry Award for Best Thriller for writing The Messenger, and in 2009 was appointed to as part of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Council.