Portrait of a Spy (Gabriel Allon Series Book 11)

Europe is exploding. And one man must find out why.For Gabriel Allon and his wife Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a romantic weekend in London. But nothing is ever that simple when you’re an off-duty spy and assassin.Bombings in Paris and Copenhagen have put him on edge and when Gabriel notices a man exhibiting several traits common to suicide bombers, he follows him into the Covent Garden throng. He’s determined to prevent the carnage he fears is about to take place, but before Gabriel can draw his sidearm, he is knocked to the pavement by two plain-clothes police officers.A moment later he looks up to find a scene from his nightmares.From the streets of New York and London, to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert, Gabriel Allon is in a race to the death against a calculating mass-murderer that he dare not lose... For Gabriel and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a pleasant weekend in London--a visit to a gallery in St. James's to authenticate a newly discovered painting by Titian, followed by a quiet lunch. But a pair of deadly bombings in Paris and Copenhagen has already marred this autumn day. And while walking toward Covent Garden, Gabriel notices a man he believes is about to carry out a third attack. Before Gabriel can draw his weapon, he is knocked to the pavement and can only watch as the nightmare unfolds. Haunted by his failure to stop the massacre of innocents, Gabriel returns to his isolated cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, until a summons brings him to Washington and he is drawn into a confrontation with the new face of global terror. At the center of the threat is an American-born cleric in Yemen to whom Allah has granted "a beautiful and seductive tongue." A gifted deceiver, who was once a paid CIA asset, the mastermind is plotting a new wave of attacks. Gabriel and his team devise a daring plan to destroy the network of death from the inside, a gambit fraught with risk, both personal and professional. To succeed, Gabriel must reach into his violent past. A woman waits there--a reclusive heiress and art collector who can traverse the murky divide between Islam and the West. She is the daughter of an old enemy, a woman joined to Gabriel by a trail of blood. . . For Gabriel Allon and his wife, Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a romantic weekend in London. But nothing is ever that simple when you're an off-duty spy and assassin. And when he fails to prevent a suicide bombing attack on Covent Garden, Gabriel is drawn once again into the world of international espionage and intrigue. From the streets of New York and London, to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert, Gabriel Allon is in a race to the death against a calculating mass-murderer that he dare not lose ... “a Bona Fide Thrill Ride.” —miami Herald “silva Builds Tension With Breathtaking Double And Triple Turns Of Plot.” —people Portrait Of A Spy Is Silva’s Eleventh Thriller To Feature Art Restorer And Master Spy Gabriel Allon As He Races From Great Britain To Washington To New York To The Middle East On The Trail Of A Deadly And Elusive Terrorist Network Responsible For Massacres In Paris, Copenhagen, And At London’s Covent Garden. After failing to stop a suicide bomber attack in London, master art restorer and assassin Gabriel Allon is summoned by the CIA and is faced with an organization riddled with dissent--and ill-equipped to deal with the deadly new face of global jihadist terror.