The New Girl: A Novel (Gabriel Allon, 19)

I've read all of the Gabriel Allon books. The earlier novels in the series are fantastic. The last several have been lackluster and The New Girl is no exception. Unfortunately, I was duped into believing this was a great book based on a 10/10 review from a reputable reviewer. It is devoid of any real suspense and the only surprise happens on the last page of the book. A character from earlier in the series, Sara Bancroft, is shoehorned into the story for no valid reason, and then only to whine about her lack of a love life. The main problem with the story, and possibly the series, is that Gabriel Allon is no longer as interesting since he became head of The Office and a married father of two. It's also impossible to suspend disbelief that the head of Israel's intelligence agency, who at age 65+ is out in the field putting himself in danger on a regular basis. The other problem is Daniel Silva's reliance on current events to drive the plot, as well as his blatant political leanings. The events he derives his plot from occurred at least a year prior to the book being published and are old news, and his political beliefs detract from the story. I read spy fiction to be entertained, not to be reminded of depressing real life events. Perhaps next time Silva can come up with an original story, instead of regurgitated world events. Maybe it's even time to think about creating a new series with a new protagonist.

I have been a devotee of Daniel Silva for many years having re-read many of his novels, most exceptionally Prince of Fire, my favorite. I want to word this review very carefully . The New Girl had political undertones that I didi not appreciate. i.e., Brexit had Russian influences? and unflattering references to our President! When I read the acknowledgements, most notably by Bob Woodward, I realized my presentiment was correct. On note, also, Mr. Silva's story lines have become rote.

Don’t waste your money. Can’t believe Silva actually wrote this. Boring. Dialogue is terrible.

I hate to fly in the face of all these 5-star reviews but I can’t in all honesty celebrate this novel. I have read all the Gabriel Allon novels, and this is one of the most formulaic and manipulative of the reader’s goodwill and sensibility. I think it is a copout to appropriate the killing of Washington Post journalist Khashoggi for the plot line. Then, two enemies joining forces and overlooking their political differences to undertake a common mission is a tired plot device that Silva and many other writers have used before. Finally, the dastardly deed that occurs less than halfway through the book sickened me because I felt Silva was using it as a plot manipulation.

In short, I think Silva did not respect the reader’s goodwill in this latest novel in the series. Sometimes it’s better to end a series despite the financial remuneration dangled by the publisher. I can no longer respect the writer’s motives and will not read any future works in the series.

Not up tp par with his prior work. Long rants on his geopolitical opinions.

Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon) has lost his mojo. In this hastily constructed spy thriller, he introduces characters from previous novels, presents a contrived and unoriginal plot, and gives us sloppy, cliched prose. The book feels as if he and his editors rushed it to publication to capitalize on recent events. Why should we care about these characters? Does it matter that the plot sounds like a car with a knock in the engine? And the pie in the sky ending, a ploy for peace between the Saudis and the Israelis failed to convince me. At not one moment did this book suspend my disbelief. Having been a fan of the earlier Silva novels, I am now going to leave him and return to some of the masters of the genre. Silva, please retire Gabriel or give us some new material...he fails to fascinate us anymore.

The author has gone over the cliff from mystery writing to expounding a political agenda. I have read 15 Silva books, enjoyed the first 14 but The New Girl is the last. In fact, I am returning it even though I have read it because I believe I was deceived in the thinking it would be another interesting spy novel by Silva. I don't pay to see a movie, go to a play or read a book to have some self-appointed expert promote their politics. Silva is toast now in my book.

I started reading Daniel Silva on a whim, a few years ago. Picked up whichever book was his latest at the time, and ended up devouring it. Since then, I've gone back in time (figuratively speaking), picking out various episodes from protagonist Gabriel Allon's past and reliving his highs and lows. Not every mission in his career was a great success; not every read was my very favorite, either. But this, The New Girl, is VERY high up there. You don't need to have read any of the twenty-odd books that precede this one to understand what's happening. Silva unpacks enough of Gabriel's history each time to see where these characters come from (but you'll be particularly rewarded if you read last year's The Other Woman).

I sat down when I got home from work to "start" this, and I didn't put it down until I finished - it's one of *those*. This is a book in four parts, which felt unusual to me for the series, but wholly necessary for this installment. Kindle has a feature that tells you how far along in the book you are, and just when things were starting to seem "figured out", for better or worse I realized I was 30% in and still in for a bumpy ride. Unfortunately for the characters involved, this was true. Fortunately for me, each section propelled itself beautifully into the next one. There would be a little pause, an "ending" of sorts, and then onto the next part. Far from feeling disjointed, I thought it gave the story more weight and verisimilitude. The plot depicted isn't something that unfolds over a few days; rather, it's a series of actions and decisions that transform peoples' lives and countries' futures.

I like Gabriel so much as a character because he's imperfect. Despite everything he's accomplished, he doesn't always succeed or get what he wants. He's a hero that's done terrible things, but for the "right" reasons. He's melancholy, but stubbornly never gives up. He's introspective, yet seemingly heedless at the same time. When does it "feel right" for a man that's not getting any younger, like he is, the "most famous man in Israel", like he is, to still be so intimately involved in an operation, in the field? When the operation is important enough, and the stakes are high enough that he can't NOT be.

If you want to know if this is a book worth reading as someone who's never met Gabriel Allon before: yes, you will become a fan. If you want to know if it's worth it as someone who's followed him all along: yes, even more so. The "cameos" from his friends and enemies felt meaningful, the losses terrible, the wins terribly relieving. As another reviewer said, until next year. I'll be there, just like Gabriel.

As with most spy thrillers, it is very hard to give a review without spoilers. I’ve tried to avoid any direct spoilers, but there are aspects that might be given away by what I say. So be warned.

The worst part about a Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon novel is that it comes to an end. The New Girl is just as fun, exciting, moving, and thought-provoking as the previous 18. It’s hard to top the early novels, but this is up there.

I do so wish Gabriel Allon (GA) was real. Maybe there are people like him and they are so good at what they do, we don’t hear about them and the problems they prevent. But it’s also a bit like hoping Batman was real. No one person is capable of this – and even if they were it is probably not a good idea to have them doing these things in the way they are done in the stories. It works in Batman and GA because we know, because they are the protagonists of the story, that they are good guys. In real life, without an omniscient narrator, we cannot know that.

The best part about The New Girl was the relationship that develops between GA and Khalid. They are, understandably, skeptical and weary of each other at first, but through the events of the story they seem to learn to trust each other and develop what seems like it could be a deep and long friendship – though the way the story unfolds that may not turn out to be the case.

At this point, 19 books in, we don’t get a lot of character development from the main cast. And there is very little of that. Keller, Mihkail, Seymour, Gabriel are who they are. So you need the new characters to drive that aspect. Silva always does a great job at this, both with new protagonists and the antagonists. Sarah’s story arc is interesting – not so much specifically for the plot of The New Girl, but across the several books she has been in. I think there are some exciting things Silva could (and will) do with this character in future novels (which is part of why she was in The New Girl – as set up for the future).

Silva also usually does a great job of humanizing his antagonists. They are rarely mindless fanatics: they have motivations that might have started out reasonable enough, but have gone deeply astray. Part of what he does well with this is that it is not a matter of some hackneyed, lazy moral grayness, where the good guys are a little bad, and the bad guys are a bit good. It’s more that Silva shows us these are human beings that have a complex history and that they have made (often bad) choices that have brought them to this point. We don’t sympathize with them, but we understand them. They are not merely monsters. However, some of the main antagonists in the New Girl come off a bit shallow. They are either just the tools of some mostly off-stage actor directing them (I’m trying not to spoil things) or they are motivated in fairly basic ways (sex and/or power). Nevertheless, I suppose there is some truth in that—but it does take away slightly from the drama.

There are several surprising elements to this story—I can’t discuss them without spoiling them, but I will say Silva allows the story to unfold without introducing any dues ex machinas. I sort of expected a few or at least Silva to pull back. So I’m glad he had the storytelling integrity to go forward with it.

There were several moments in the story related specifically to Israel that, although they are not essential to plot, I found quite moving; even got choked up a bit.

I enjoy how Silva weaves in current real world events – though I do have to be careful not to confuse Silva’s world for the real one!

I am not sure what I think of the ending. It’ll take some time to process it. Partly, I’m not sure what precisely happened. Time will tell.

I'm a big fan of Daniel Silva, and the Gabriel Allon series. This recent book, too political, too liberal slanted. Takes away from the story. Did not enjoy it.