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.