A Death in Vienna (Gabriel Allon Book 4)

This is the last of the first four books of Daniel Silva's long series about the life and doings of an Israeli agent. All of these books (the first one less so) are related to the Holocaust and especially to those, mostly non-Germans, who were complicit, or benefited from the Holocaust. A Death in Vienna (ADIV) has much more about the Holocaust itself with many horrific details, and its chief villain is an Austrian SS/SD officer. ADIV's plot is about what happened to this officer after 1945 and how Gabriel and the Israeli secret service (the Office) find and capture him. The many twists and turns are resolved at the end of 400+ pages written with the outstanding literary skills of Mr. Silva. Indeed, these skills are of such excellence that they successfully obscure or compensate for some improbable events as well as for the incredible good luck of the protagonist. However, this is after all a thriller, and as such, it is one of the best.The institutional villains of the previous books in this series were the Swiss bankers and, the Vatican. In ADIV, and to a lesser extent, it is the CIA. Mr. Silva is clearly offended by the CIA's role in taking up the Gehlen Network after World War II. Indeed, at the book's end, ithe Author's Note concludes with "What impact did men such as these (i.e. Reinhard Gehlen) have on the conduct of American foreign policy during the early years of the Cold War? The answer may never fully be known." Well, the answers are in fact very well known. Soviet policy after 1945 was clearly aggressive, e.g. Trieste (1945), Greece (from 1945 onwards), and Berlin (1948), not to mention the attempted subversion of Italy and France. The US response to the Soviet moves was the dispatch of military equipment and advisors to Greece (1947), the Marshall Plan (1948), the Berlin Airlift (1948), and the establishment of NATO (1949). Whatever advice Reinhard Gehlen may have given in 1945-49, it was these actions that decided the fate and freedom of Europe west of the Iron Curtain.I do not understand the basis of Mr. Silva's views about the CIA in the post World War II years, but ADIV is an excellent book. It is not history, but a book that reads very well, and it is a thriller of high literary quality. I read most of it during a seven-hour flight and recommend it in spite of my reservations described in the previous paragraph.

I am reading through Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon series for the third time. Normally I would get books from the library, but my library is closed because of the pandemic. I am purchasing Silva's books in paperback now. They are the only books I will spend money on. This novel and all of his early novels are what kept me waiting for July when a new Daniel Silva book would come out. His writing in these earlier novels is exquisite. The storytelling, characters, detailed scenic descriptions, and periodic comic relief in the midst of the tragedies described are what makes Daniel Silva's novels stand alone. Death in Vienna is one of his best. The way the story begins with my beloved Eli in danger is story telling at its best. I have cried, laughed, and stared at the words in unbelief throughout this novel. Silva just captures you and draws you into the world of Gabriel and Ari until you just want to know that all will be well and that all will survive. I am writing this review because re-reading Silva's books remind me of his brilliance but causes me to wonder what happened to his writing in his last three books, in particular, the last one - The Order. This last book is nothing like the Daniel Silva's writing that I know and admire. He became preachy, hurried in his story line, and there is practically no characterization at all. What happened? I will continue to read Silva's books because I love Gabriel, Ari and all of the characters. But, please Daniel, take your time, go back and read your first works, see the detail, see the descriptions, see the way you build your characters until we feel like we know them so well. Come back to us Daniel. We need Gabriel and Ari and Eli and all the others to take us into their world and let us see the universe through their eyes and go places we may never get to travel to. Your writing is too precious to lose its way. Come back. Bring your writing back. I'm still a fan and will remain so. July 2021 is coming. And...thank you for giving us Gabriel and Ari.

I first discovered Daniel Silva with 'The Mark of the Assassin' around a year ago. His books are really accessible international assassin thrillers, and I say accessible as normally this isn't my genre. They all feature a super-assassin - often both for the good guys and the bad guys - and the books cover different themes, e.g. Islamic terrorists, Russians, the Holocaust (which this book deals with) etc.The book is INCREDIBLY well researched, and somehow even though the hero (Gabriel Allon) seems to be invincible, you do get drawn into the real sense of tension in the story.Great story, brilliant author - unmissable.

Fascinating book on Austria post Second World War. An insight into Austria's attitude to Jews, cover up of crimes committed during the war and afterwards. Daniel Silva has put this together in an exciting, informative and gripping story involving Israeli and American secret services. Difficult to put down once started.

Great author and good story telling

the b ooks in the Allon series are getting to be very much the same. The politics of the author are getting more intrusive to the detriment of the stories. Don't think I shall bother to order any more.

Never having read or heard anything by this author before I just took a chance on this item. The story is well crafted, the narrator is superb and I was hooked from the very beginning. I've since ordered 2 more audio books by the same author. Highly recommend this novel.