Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Portrait of a Spy - Review and Giveaway

Portrait of a SpyPortrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva, Harper Audio, 11 hrs, 32 mins, July 2011

...every bit as good as the earlier books in this series

This will be perhaps the third or fourth thriller in this series that I’ve reviewed so I won’t write a lengthy review of this novel. Let me just say that it is every bit as good as the earlier books in this series. Daniel Silva through his lead character Israeli spy Gabriel Allon does a fantastic job of educating the reader about Mideast politics, rivalries and factional fighting. So often his stories have a real ripped from the headlines feel. This one is particularly topical dealing with terrorist attacks in London and the US. Allon’s adversaries are a post Bin Laden terrorist group centered in Yemen; he is assisted by a progressive billionaire Saudi woman, Nadia al-Bakari who quietly is trying to improve conditions for women in the Mideast. All of the familiar characters from earlier Silva novels are present, Allon’s wife Chiara, British gallery owner Julian Isherwood, the complete Mossad team, Allon’s mentor Shamron and the principals from US and UK intelligence. The plotting is intelligent and tight, the writing is first-rate and the characters are realistic. Silva doesn’t shy from sharing his feelings about rights and wrongs in the Mideast – the treatment of women and minorities in the Mideast (wrong), the tepid US support for Israel (wrong), the Saudi financing of terrorist groups (wrong), the support of Israel among the Western intelligence agencies (right).


If you’ve enjoyed Silva’s earlier novels you will like this one, if you haven’t read any novels in this international spy series this one can stand alone as a satisfying read. I listened to the audio version of this thriller and for me it was quite a different experience than reading it. Simon Vance did a first-rate job narrating, he was able to give voice to a myriad of accents that really gave the story a theatrical feel. I would be hard pressed to compare the experience of listening v. reading this story. Both are enjoyable just different!

I would offer the audio edition of this novel that I received from the publisher as a giveaway. Rules are in the box to the right of this review. Giveaway ends September 28.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Sounds like an interesting story, i LOVE audio books for when I am working in the house and need something to distract me from the mess my kids make out of my house. Thanks lisapeters at yahoo dot com I follow Lisa

Lukey Here said...

I love a good audiobook. I have never read anything by Daniel Silva, but the synopsis sounds interesting and applicable to the present. Thanks for the chance to win.

teresa[dot]lukey73[at]gmail[dot]com

In Julie's Opinion said...

I love Daniel Silva's books and would love to win this audiobook!! Thanks for an awesome giveaway!!

jwitt33 at live dot com

Literary Chanteuse said...

I have wanted to read a Daniel Silva book as well as wanting to increase my audio book listening so double whammy here for me. Thanks for the giveaway!

Margaret
singimt@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

Thanks for the chance into this giveaway.

unforgetable_dreamer_always (at) hotmail (dot) com

Zibilee said...

It does sound rather interesting, and like something that I might like. No need to enter me in the giveaway, as I already have a copy, but now I know I need to read it more promptly!

anaavu said...

Sounds awesome, and very rarely do you find audiobook giveaways! I'm following via GFC with the name Ana :)
Thanks!

Ana
anaavu@gmail.com
http://www.book-spark.blogspot.com/

Julie S said...

Thanks for the giveaway! This sounds really interesting and I love audio books!
juliecookies(at)gmail.com
GFC Julie S.