As it happens, Allon's talents in the world of art serve him time and time again, stumbling into one case after the next, with each one seeming to be made specifically for his skills.
This time around, Allon puts his powers to use in the investigation of the murder of a British diplomat, businessman, and spy, an act of which his dear friend has been accused of.
Rather quickly, Allon learns that the spy had more than a few secrets up his sleeve, but one stands out amongst the rest: the location of one of the most famous missing paintings on Earth, Caravaggio's “Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence”.
And so, Allon sets down a very dangerous path which, once again, takes him traveling around the world in the search of a very powerful, mysterious and rather lethal collector.
As has been the case with Silva's previous sixteen novels, what we are treated to here is an extensive thriller that moves at a furious pace, mixing together the somewhat well-known domain of espionage with the under-explored world of art thievery.
There are some breaks here and there, with Silva taking great care to explain the motivations behind the various actions and crimes in the story; in other words, we learn exactly what it is that makes the painting so valuable, and why people would go through the trouble of murder to keep certain secrets from spilling.
Of course, the author doesn't constrain himself to remaining completely realistic; this is a novel after all, and everything is tailored into a smooth and perhaps even slightly epic story that does keep you nervously wondering as to the fates of all those involved.
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| Caravaggio, Nativity with St Francis & St Lawrence 1609 |
An aspect I've really come to enjoy about Silva is that you can actually feel and notice has characters develop throughout their series. They do react as people logically would to the various experiences they go through, and seem to be progressing from novel to novel, as if their arcs have already been planned throughout multiple books in advance.
For instance, Allon himself started out as an energetic and wrathful whirlwind, and is slowly becoming more calm, reasonable and rational.
Of course, such changes aren't going to please all readers, for after all we fall in love with characters because they are a certain way and not another.
However, I feel as though Silva makes the developments feel rather sleek and natural, to the point where objecting to them feels irrational.
Without giving away too much about the plot of the book or the identity of the afore-mentioned mysterious collector, it needs to be said that Silva wasn't just writing an entertaining novel for the sake of it.
Many of the themes, subjects as well as events explored and portrayed within have some kind of parallel with the most heinous conflicts and crimes happening in our very own, real world.
All in all, The Heist is, in my opinion of course, one of the more interesting thrillers available at this moment. It doesn't break any conventions nor does it try to stray from the beaten path, but it is, as a whole, a very solid piece of work which achieves exactly what it sets out to do: to provide you with a little entertainment, escape and peace of mind all while still stimulating your gray cells in some way.
If that's what you're looking for, you're pretty much guaranteed to have a good time with this novel.
 | Daniel SilvaPersonal 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. |
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