MOSCOW RULES by Daniel Silva
With the Georgia/Russia conflict dominating the evening news Daniel Silva’s new novel MOSCOW RULES is timely to say the least. Once more Mr. Silva brings his recurring character Daniel Allon back in a new adventure, this one taking place in Russia. As with all his other Allon books, MOSCOW RULES places the Israeli superspy in situations which only he can breach. It is a down to the wire story with the fate of many of Silva’s favorite character creations fighting for their lives.
MOSCOW RULES starts out with Daniel Allon in Umbria, Italy. He is in his disguise of art restorer and is going by an assumed name. His wife Chiara is also with him since they are on their honeymoon. Daniel is actually working on restoring a painting for the Pope, so not all of his cover story is false. In the middle of his stay he is summoned to Israel where he is given an assignment.
There is a Russian who wants to meet with Daniel and no one else. He has information that is of high importance to Israel and her allies. To get this information Daniel must go to Rome where he will meet this man. It should be only a matter of days and then Daniel will be back home and able to resume his honeymoon. But nothing works out as planned and Daniel is soon up to his neck in murky business.
The joy of Silva’s work is in seeing how he sets up the premise; how he makes the adventure plausible; how he integrates the main characters into this plot; and how he makes it play out in a way designed to keep the reader interested and entertained. Silva does this over and over with each new story and he manages to make each one fresh and timely.
Daniel Allon is a fascinating character. By this time he has almost become a member of the reader’s family. We know his background, his fears, his weaknesses and strengths, and most of all his loyalties. We have seen him through a previous marriage, love affairs and now a new stable marital relationship. We have endured deaths with him and seen him suffer physical trauma. Yet he manages to soldier on and with a vengeance. In MOSCOW RULES he is fierce.
If you have never read a Daniel Silva book, getting familiar with the characters in MOSCOW RULES might take a little time. And you won’t get the joy of the story that faithful Silva fans will get. In this case familiarity breeds knowledge, and knowledge breeds involvement, and involvement breeds reading pleasure.
In the world of espionage thrillers Silva rules, and MOSCOW RULES is one of his best stories yet. With the world waking up to find Russia trying to expand or recapture its lost empire, MOSCOW RULES is a timely look inside the Russian mindset.
MOSCOW RULES is published by G P Putnam’s Sons. It contains 433 pages and sells for $26.95.