HarperCollins, London 2016

This is the 16th of Silva`s Gabriel Allon series, and for the uninitiated reader the personal tableau is a bit confusing. Silva´s ultimate concern in writing spy fiction seems to be to stirr European and American secret service agencies sufficiently for them to take a more active role in their fight against Islamic terror. The only country doing enough in his opinion is Israel with Gabriel Allon fighting at the very front.

So ghastly attacks need to happen in Europe and the United States before appropiate action is taken.

And Silva has investigated Islamic terror thoroughly. He describes, how French born Natalie is trained to infiltrate ISIS, so that she can uncover plans for imminent attacks. In reality she is used by her ISIS fellow terrorists just the other way round. Great parts of Washington are bombed, suicide bombers attack government buildings and popular cafes, but Natalie, at least, survives and decides to become a part of Israeli counter terrorism.