The Black Widow

The Black Widow

(Harper, 2017) is the 16th of Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon thrillers. The series begins with Allon, an Israeli ex–intelligence operative, living a quiet life as an art restorer. He’s soon called back into the game to hunt down terrorists. I’ve always been interested in espionage, but before the pandemic, I had little time to read. In this installment, Allon is about to become the chief of Israel’s secret intelligence service but ends up back in the arena when an ISIS operative detonates a bomb in Paris. As Allon tracks down the man responsible, The Black Widow shows, in methodical, step-bystep detail, how he does it. Each book in the series is self-contained, though Silva’s character development is so intoxicating that you want to start the next one as soon as you finish. It’s great escapism, a different kind of entertainment. There’s only so much TV you can watch.