The Black Widow

Starred review from July 4, 2016
Bestseller Silva's riveting 16th novel featuring the legendary Israeli art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon (after 2015's The English Spy) finds Gabriel on the trail of a secret ISIS terrorist known as Saladin after a vicious attack in Paris kills Gabriel's longtime friend Hannah Weinberg, the leader of the Isaac Weinberg Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in France. One of the escaped Paris terrorists, Safia Bourihane, has been dubbed the black widow, but far more interesting is another black widow, this one created by Gabriel himself. Natalie Mizrahi, a doctor in Jerusalem, is recruited, trained, and inserted into a massive operation to locate Saladin so Gabriel can kill him. Gabriel's process of turning a civilian into a spy and the meticulous maneuvering of his team are fascinating, suspenseful, and bated-breath exciting. The satisfying open ending promises more to come in the Saladin saga. Silva proves once again that he can rework familiar genre material and bring it to new life. Nine-city author tour.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Gabriel Allon, art restorer and Israeli spy, is supposed to be dead, but he's really very much alive and about to take over the directorship of Israel's secret intelligence service (called the Office by those on the inside). But before that can happen, there's some field work that needs attending to: Hannah Weinberg, an old friend of Allon's and the director of the Weinberg Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism in France, was killed, along with hundreds of others (including several Israelis), when the Paris center was destroyed by a bomb in a carefully executed ISIS attack. Now, working with the French and eventually the Americans, Allon is leading a team charged with finding and killing the ISIS leader called Saladin, who orchestrated the Paris attack and is planning another, even bigger strike. To carry out his plan, Allon conscripts a Jewish doctor, Natalie Mizrahi, to pose as a Palestinian, get herself recruited by ISIS, and become the Office's eyes and ears within the organization. Echoing John le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl (1983), the narrative takes us not only inside an Islamic terrorist group, but also inside the head of an initially reluctant but then committed double agent, who must learn to subsume one identity beneath another. This is a compelling thriller as Silva layers tension into his narrative like a symphony conductor, with Natalie becoming more involved in Saladin's next attack, and Gabriel balancing his need for intelligence against his agent's safety; but the novel also affords a sobering, insightful, and multifaceted look at the overwhelming complexities of the seemingly interminable war in the Middle East. And, for series fans, Silva introduces a new and richly conceived character who is likely to become a regular cast member. A winner on all fronts.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)