A blog reviewing mystery books, with a listing of Saskatchewan mysteries, and a sprinkling of non-fiction books, especially history and biographies
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Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva
33. – 496.) The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon, Israeli super secret agent and art restorer, is caught up in the kidnapping of the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain by the Sword of Allah (a radical Islamist organization headquartered in Egypt). Allon pursues leads to the kidnappers through Europe. When the kidnappers demand the release of a leader in American prison or they will kill her in a week the pace of the plot accelerates. Allon and his fellow Israelis are willing to torture and kill to defeat the terrorist plot. Both Israel and the U.S. support the Mubarak regime in Egypt which features extreme amounts of torture against Islamists to preserve the regime. The twists are better than most thrillers. It is not the comic book unbelievable violence of most current movies. The book explores radical Islam in an increasingly secular Western Europe. I had never heard Londonistan before this book. The terrorists are willing to kill the innocent as are the allies of the heroes. The book recognizes that using torture perpetuates terror but is still willing to use torture. It follows the classic belief that torture applied immediately with credible consequences can produce important intelligence. It does not recognize the risk of false or misleading information from torture. It is a smooth compelling thriller with an underlying political discussion. (Aug. 22/09)
Bill - Thanks for this thoughtful review. I agree with you that this book raises really important questions about the value of torture as an intelligence-gathering tactic. And in my opinion, it does so in a way that goes much deeper than a "stereotypical" (if there is such a thing) thriller. Silva does an effective job in my opinion of creating characters, plot twists and larger questions that go far beyond what we too often see in a lot of thrillers. I'm glad you thought this was a good read.
Margot: Thanks for the insightful comment. The Torture Team by Phillipe Sands is a non-fiction book chronicling how America went into and out of approved torture.
33. – 496.) The Secret Servant by Daniel Silva – Gabriel Allon, Israeli super secret agent and art restorer, is caught up in the kidnapping of the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain by the Sword of Allah (a radical Islamist organization headquartered in Egypt). Allon pursues leads to the kidnappers through Europe. When the kidnappers demand the release of a leader in American prison or they will kill her in a week the pace of the plot accelerates. Allon and his fellow Israelis are willing to torture and kill to defeat the terrorist plot. Both Israel and the U.S. support the Mubarak regime in Egypt which features extreme amounts of torture against Islamists to preserve the regime. The twists are better than most thrillers. It is not the comic book unbelievable violence of most current movies. The book explores radical Islam in an increasingly secular Western Europe. I had never heard Londonistan before this book. The terrorists are willing to kill the innocent as are the allies of the heroes. The book recognizes that using torture perpetuates terror but is still willing to use torture. It follows the classic belief that torture applied immediately with credible consequences can produce important intelligence. It does not recognize the risk of false or misleading information from torture. It is a smooth compelling thriller with an underlying political discussion. (Aug. 22/09)
Bill - Thanks for this thoughtful review. I agree with you that this book raises really important questions about the value of torture as an intelligence-gathering tactic. And in my opinion, it does so in a way that goes much deeper than a "stereotypical" (if there is such a thing) thriller. Silva does an effective job in my opinion of creating characters, plot twists and larger questions that go far beyond what we too often see in a lot of thrillers. I'm glad you thought this was a good read.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the insightful comment. The Torture Team by Phillipe Sands is a non-fiction book chronicling how America went into and out of approved torture.
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