Review of The Collector by Daniel Silva

 

Daniel Silva’s latest thriller, The Collector, has all the characteristics of a blockbuster. It is ripped right out of the pages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and will attract devotees as well as first readers.

Gabriel Allon, the retired former head spymaster of the Israeli secret service is on tap and called into action once again. This time he is asked to look into the murder of a wealthy secret art collector and the theft of a long missing stolen masterpiece by the famous Dutch painter, Vermeer. In no time he turns up a brilliant, vivacious, female, master thief as a suspect, but almost immediately another more dangerous plot emerges. Allon has to leave the art world behind in order to prevent a Russian false flag operation from starting a nuclear war in the Ukraine. Soon the secret services of the USA, Russia, Denmark, and Finland are planning to send the female master thief and the head of a Danish petroleum company into the very heart of Moscow to steal the incriminating war-plan and save the world.  It should be no surprise that as the thieves begin to execute their escape from Russia, things go awry. The final bullet heavy standoff at a Finnish border crossing will keep you turning the pages at a rapid clip.    

If you like tradecraft and action you will be more than satisfied and if you wish to probe the depth of the retired Allon’s character, you will be reminded of his exploits all the way back to the Munich Olympics and the car bomb that permanently incapacitated his first wife. I would also add that an item that sets Silva’s work apart is his ability to lighten even catastrophes and setbacks with caustic humor.  

 My judgement may be a tad clouded by having a son and family living in Finland and therefore loving the irony of putting the climax at the border of Russia and the “the happiest country in the world,” but I still give it a 5 out of 5. 

 

 

Interesting Comparison

Had two interesting viewing experiences in the last two nights. On Thursday evening we saw Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music in an outdoor venue on the grounds of an old Cedar Rapids mansion called Brucemore.

Then on Friday night we saw the 1958 film of South Pacific. What a contrast in terms of the development of musical theatre over the past fifty years. The film was a big hit, but shows its age badly with hokey color tinting for the lovey-dovey scenes and some performances that seem wooden as well as in-appropriate in the modern era.

Although I am not a big Sondheim fan, the Theatre Cedar Rapids production hit the mark is almost all ways. You couldn't ask for a more gorgeous setting for this show--outdoors and twilight deepening to dark as the 2nd act starts. The CR actors and singers showed that they were more than up to the difficult score. The miking was excellent and we could hear the lyrics and dialog clearly. Not sure what can be done outdoors to keep action on the far side of large stage from coming at you from the left speaker array. Stage design and direction excellent.. Lots of levels and they were used nicely. Blocking of dinner scenes always give directors the heebie jeebies, but Angie Toomsen had a beautiful and successful solution. With small low tables on two levels and a third level for the grand dame hostess, everyone could be seen and no backs were turned.

I still think Act I could use some trimming. By the time we get to the Act I finale the going is tedious and the last number goes on forever. No weekend in the country needs to be repeated that many times. Then again the South Pacific film could use more than a lot of trimming too.

Plenty to think about all around.

Death in a Bygone Hue Book Review

 

Death in a Bygone Hue review

 

Susan Van Kirk’s second art center mystery, Death in a Bygone Hue” is an engrossing and pleasant cozy mystery. My caveat here is simply a mention that I have known Sue as a neighbor and friend for many years and she is aware that my personal preference in detective procedurals calls for a bit more guts than the “cozy” genre generally supplies.  

 With that said, I still love her single, delightful, and unabashedly inquisitive heroine Jill Madison. Jill is a budding artist, and Executive Director of an art center in a small midwestern town. Just as she is readying the center’s first national juried exhibition, Judge Spivey, her good friend and the treasurer of her Board of Directors, dies suspiciously. This suddenly puts her as a sleuth in search of a killer as well as a suspect in the crime.  The judge’s will, unknown to her, has disinherited his adult children and left all of his valuable paintings and his money to Jill and the Art Center. A local newspaper woman adds fuel to the fire by writing articles accusing Jill of the crime and a final fan to the flames exposes concerns about the judge’s hidden past during the Viet Nam War.     

 Van Kirk’s tightly plotted narrative comes nicely equipped with a jolly sidekick and a handsome emergency room doctor from the local hospital who adds just a touch of steam to her life. Witness this quote, “I found myself falling for him as he hugged me, kissed my forehead, and headed for the door. He actually thought my work was important. He could be a keeper.”   

 Another plus is the unique setting of the book in an arts center. I cheerfully admit that I know this art center since Van Kirk has fictionalized the real one that operates in our town. When Judge Spivey’s painting collection is discovered to be valuable, it opens up the plot to potential art theft and forgery, which extends the plot well beyond the locality where the crime was committed. This allows a reader to pick up just enough discussion of how art shows are run, how exhibits are hung, and how provenance operates in the art world itself to add depth to the setting without slipping into the aesthetic weeds.

Van Kirk’s book is not going to knock Agatha Christie or Louise Penny off the top rung of the ladder quite yet, but she had me guessing the wrong villain right up to the final suspenseful confrontation. That, for my money, is what a good solid enjoyable read is all about. I give it a 4 out of 5.  Get a copy!