An Inside Job

 

 

An Inside Job by Daniel Silva is the 25^th book in  his series about Gabriel Allon. I’ve read them all and most of them at least twice, so you know I’m a fan. While I thought a couple of his recent novels were somewhat weaker than usual, this one was certainly not. He has set a high standard for  his work. Although when I consider which one of his books that I’ve liked the best, I can’t make a choice. An Inside Job just may be his best, although I’ve  written that before.

 

Five years retired from the clandestine Israeli force that he worked for, Gabriel Allon now works for his wife’s art restoration firm, and Allon is thought to be among the finest art restorers in the world, especially of the old masters. Allon now lives in Venice with his family, a wife and twins, a boy and girl. Although no longer a spy, he is a consultant with various police departments about various serious crimes. In this case, he learns a particularly valuable piece of art has been stolen out of the highly secure vaults in the Vatican. Prior books about Allon have established his long and deep friendship with the current Pope, so it is not surprised that Allon is consulted in this case. The matter gets much more complex as a young apprentice restorer has been found murdered, and the work she has done was on an undiscovered portrait by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting had long been buried beneath a painting by a lesser known artist. Beyond the importance of such a discovery by Leonardo was its current value, probably of half a billion dollars. Not only does the Vatican expect to recover the painting, the Pope needed to understand how such a theft could have occurred.

 

Who could afford to buy such an expensive painting? The pursuit of the painting involved multiple bidders and other interested parties including a Russian oligarch, the Camorra which was the most violent part of the Mafia, the financial dealings of the Papacy itself, and two financiers who worked to launder money for the Camorra. The Carabinieri, the Italian police were deeply involved in solving the case. Meanwhile, the Pope was trying to reform the church and root out the massive corruption that he knew existed. There were substantial forces against him who wanted the various corrupt schemes to continue, and the Pope’s life was in danger, along with the life of his buddy, Gabriel Allon. It was during his time as a young priest that the current pope had a torrid love affair, and since his appointment as the new pope, his former paramour reemerged.

 

That’s enough information. It remains my opinion that in this particular genre, that I’ve never encountered an author who writes with more skill than Silva. His character development and plot creation are superior. He produces his new books once a year, so I eagerly await the next one, then read it in a day or two, and then have to wait a whole year for another. An Inside Job was a book that was worth the wait.