The English Girl : a Novel

Library Journal Silva adds another thrilling entry to the best-selling Gabriel Allon series (after The Fallen Angel). This time his Israeli secret agent and art restorer is home in Jerusalem when an intelligence acquaintance pays him a visit. The British prime minister has received a ransom demand for his captive lover, Madeline Hart. He has to pay in seven days, or she dies and the scandal will be revealed to the media. Allon is more than qualified to find the girl quickly and quietly, an assignment that launches him on a chase around Europe and Russia. Allon finds a few unlikely allies in an assassin who once spared his life and a Russian businessman, as he peels away the layers of the elaborate blackmail scheme that is bigger and more dangerous than anyone anticipated. Verdict Silva is a sure bet for thriller fans; his 13th action-packed, globe-trotting espionage adventure won’t disappoint. [See Prepub Alert, 1/14/13.]—Melissa DeWild, Kent Dist. Lib., Comstock Park, MI