DANIEL SILVA’S ‘HOUSE OF SPIES’ AND AMELIA GRAY’S ‘ISADORA’
‘House of Spies’ alternates between terrorism and tourism
An elaborate plan to trap the mastermind of ISIS attacks in Europe is what drives Daniel Silva’s latest globe-hopping thriller, “House of Spies,” but the novel is lavishly embellished with much more.
There’s exotic scenery, insight into both history and current events, wit, romance, and a lot of heart. It even has a couple of suggestions for delicious dinners.
In the fictional universe of Mr. Silva and his enduring main character, Israeli intelligence agent Gabriel Allon, hunting militant radicals is nothing new.
This is the 17th book to feature Gabriel, and early in the series he tracked down and assassinated the perpetrators of the (real) 1972 Munich Olympics massacre that killed 11 Israeli coaches and athletes.
“House of Spies” begins with another act of terrorism, this time in present-day London. An ISIS leader named Saladin, introduced in Mr. Silva’s “The Black Widow,” is responsible for the bombings. In the aftermath, the story goes behind the scenes of Britain’s MI5 and MI6, both desperately searching for a loose thread that will lead to Saladin.
By scrubbing a computer hard drive, it is discovered that one of the attackers received smuggled guns from a drug runner known as The Scorpion.
Finding him will take an operative who can believably go undercover, so the Brits turn to Christopher Keller, another character that readers of “The Black Widow” will remember.
Keller’s fascinating odyssey is revealed over several picturesque chapters, leading to the irony that, in spite of the billions spent by governmental security services, it takes a Corsican criminal to find The Scorpion.
The next rung on the ladder to Saladin is the kingpin of a hospitality empire named Jean-Luc Martel, whose real business is drugs. To get to Martel and his girlfriend, a former model named Olivia Watson, Gabriel hatches a complicated scheme.
It involves the French DGSI, the American CIA providing electronic surveillance and the Israelis running the show on the ground.
More great characters from “The Black Widow” carry out the hoax. Mikhail Abramov and Dr. Natalie Mizrahi pose as a superrich couple who move into the same Saint-Tropez orbit as JeanLuc and Olivia.
In the last book Natalie pretended to be a radicalized Muslim, but in “House of Spies” she trades her dormitory in Raqqa and hijab for capri pants and gold sandals. To finance the operation, computer hackers steal money from the Syrian ruler known as the Butcher of Damascus.
Amid the glitter of the French Riviera, Mr. Silva reinforces the nexus between ISIS and the sale of narcotics and the fact that drug routes are also used to transport terrorism.
This leads to Morocco and another step closer to locating Saladin.
Although the stakes are raised once the team reaches North Africa, Mr. Silva takes time to act as tour guide. In Casablanca he comments on the contrast between its shantytowns and Western boutiques and notes that tourists’ Louis Vuitton bags cost more than many Moroccans make in a lifetime.
But as the players move toward a camp in the Sahara, the tension escalates and doesn’t let up.
Mr. Silva’s success lies in his mix of authenticity and charm; his swings from global fears to domestic comforts.
While jihad is his main topic, he also leisurely writes about things like one character’s funny confrontation with a Corsican goat.
And although Gabriel realizes that the Islamic State may one day cook up a dirty bomb, he also knows that his wife will be waiting with a lovely meal. It’s a recipe that keeps his readers coming back for more.