Silva's Messenger Sounds An Alarm

The Messenger by Daniel Silva

The title of Daniel Silva's latest Gabriel Allon spy novel could very easily refer to the author himself. Daniel Silva is a man with a message and it comes through loud and clear in this 2006 installment of an Israeli spy and assassin whose cover is that of an art restorer.

Or, at least, it used to be before his cover was blown earlier in the series. With his face now known and wanted in several countries, Gabriel is expecting that he's going to have more time for his art work-or perhaps to settle into a desk job with Mossad. But then a spy from the other side is blown and they find out about an immediate threat to The Vatican. Gabriel tries unsuccessfully to stave it off and then finds himself off on a chase to track down the terrorists.

The terror network is run by a former Saudi intelligence officer and heavily financed by a Saudi billionaire and true believer. With the help of the Americans, Gabriel trains a plant, Sarah Bancroft, to infiltrate the billionaire's well-protected circle and find the terrorist.

Fighting Terrorism

The Messenger was my introduction to Silva's series and it is easy to see why he rockets so quickly to the tops of the bestseller lists with each new release. It's a well-written book that moves swiftly and deeply explores the very timely issues of terrorism in the Middle East. It was especially timely that this book was released during a week when there was active fighting in Israel and Lebanon.

The Passionate Assassin

Gabriel is a complex character, an assassin who values life. He's deeply troubled by the state of the world and the state of his own relationships. He was recruited after the 1972 assassination of Israeli athletes at the Olympics. Silva makes him the assassin who tracked down the terrorists and killed each of them.

Coming into the series where I did, I have to confess that I found Gabriel somewhat troubling. Perhaps I would feel differently had I read the earlier books in the series, but I didn't like the choice he made about his wife. In retaliation for the assassinations that he did, a car bomb blew up the car that his son and wife were in. The world thought his wife was dead, but she's actually been in an institution for decades. She's rarely conscious or coherent, but she definitely still has her moments where she remembers everything and is still deeply in love with Gabriel. That he chooses to go on with a different relationship, one that seems almost entirely sexual in nature (though, again, the relationship between Gabriel and Chiara was clearly established in earlier books), makes him less sympathetic to me. Being a firm believer in "for better or worse", I was uncomfortable with his decision to divorce her simply because she was no longer able to be a full partner.

Message: Saudis Bad

Silva spent a fair amount of time in the Middle East when he was working as a television correspondent before leaving to be a full-time novelist. He said that making the Saudis the villain was a no-brainer choice as they have been and continue to be financiers of terrorism. He points out that even today the textbooks that are used by schoolchildren in Saudi Arabia are filled with messages of hatred against America and Israel.

In both his book and in a discussion held while on a tour promoting the book, Silva makes it very clear that the Saudis get a free pass because they invest so much money in the U.S., money that helps politicians to get elected and to enjoy their retirement years afterward. They are touted as our allies even though they are feeding the terrorist network because the Saudi royal family can't afford to come down hard on them.

So perhaps given his background, it isn't surprising that Silva takes a very black and white approach to his subject. In the oldest tradition of spy novels, there is good and there is evil, and never the twain shall meet. He might tease us with glimpses of the enemy's humanity, but mostly the Saudis are shown as corrupt, corpulent, and over-indulgent. They have riches and lavish spending habits that are in stark contrast to the hard-line asceticism of the Israelis. The Saudis are shown as being above the law and having a complete disregard for anything but their personal desires. The Israelis, meanwhile, are shown ever against the backdrop of their sacrifices and the war that has been waged against their people from Hitler forward.

There is much about the picture that he paints that firmly portrays reality, but it is often so rigid and extreme that it strains credibility.

Good Stuff

Those complaints aside, The Messenger was filled with suspense and was a very well-written spy novel. Gabriel is part of a team and there is great passion and commitment on the part of all the team members. It's also a very visual novel, moving from one exotic locale to another and filled with exciting and tense scenes as the various characters try to stave off disasters, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

Silva writes his novel with a message and it is a message that most of the American public is receptive to as we continue to wrestle with how to fight terrorism while retaining our soul.

--B. Redman