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A Death in Vienna
by Daniel Silva
Enough intrigue and suspense for two novels.
When an explosion rocks the office of Wartime Claims and Inquiry, an organization in Vienna that looks into atrocities against Jews during World War II, Israeli agent Gabriel Allon is sent to make inquiries. This office bombing evokes memories for Allon because it was in Vienna years before that his wife and child had been blown up in a car bombing. Back in Vienna now, Allon meets an elderly Holocaust survivor who relates a horrific story of his time in a concentration camp. Soon the old man is murdered, and Allon begins looking into the man's claim that he had recently seen one of the army officers who committed murders in the camps so long ago.
So begins Daniel Silva‘s third novel about Gabriel Allon, spy, assassin, and when not working for the Israeli secret service, a top restorer of art in the churches of Venice. This latest story has the agent on a manhunt that takes him from Vienna to Rome, on to Argentina, the United States and Israel, and back to Europe. The plot involves the possible election of a far right candidate as chancellor of Austria; plans to revive Fascism in Europe; stories of high Catholic Church officials helping to smuggle Nazis to safety after World War II; a hired assassin; and the CIA. During the course of the story we get dollops of World War II and Cold War history, much of it sounding true to life. In one very moving section Allon reads his mother's testimony about her concentration camp experiences, a story so terrible she had not done more than give her son hints about it. There are a couple of incredible coincidences that the author brings in, but one hardly notices them because Silva is such an accomplished storyteller. “Death in Vienna” is a top notch thriller from beginning to end.
Title: A Death in Vienna
Author: Daniel Silva
Publisher: Putnam
ISBN: 0399151435
Review written by: William Keogan
Reviewer's Rating:8.5
Reader's Rating: 9.00
Reader's Votes: 1
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