Prince of Fire, by Daniel Silva
Filed under: book review, Daniel Silva, espionage, Fiction, Gabriel Allon, recommendation, Thriller
Prince of Fire is Daniel Silva’s fifth novel in his Gabriel Allon series. Allon is an internationally renowned art restorer, assassin, and 
master spy. This book follows A Death in Vienna, and is best read after it. Again, Daniel Silva offers a well-plotted, suspenseful spy thriller, full of spy tradecraft and with a story that is believable.
In Prince of Fire terrorists bomb the Israeli embassy in Rome and massacre the people working there. And so, once more, Gabriel Allon gets a visit from the spy master of the Israeli secret service, the legendary Ari Shamron. Ari Shamron, who once was the head of Israel’s secret service and is Gabriel’s mentor, is now special advisor to Israel’s prime minister.
When Shamron visits Gabriel in Italy, he informs him that Palestinian terrorists have uncovered Gabriel’s true identity and may be targeting him for assassination. He urges Gabriel to come out of retirement. Reluctantly, as always, he returns to Israel to head a team investigating the bombing. After some difficult work, the team finds traces leading to a Palestinian mastermind named Khaled al-Khalifa. He is, as well, believed to be the brain behind two earlier terrorist attacks. Allon is now assigned to find and execute him.
As in his other books, Silva weaves facts and fiction in a rough, hard reality which is grim and requires tough decisions, especially by those involved in the espionage business. The story in Prince of Fire is, if anything, even darker than most of the stories in this series. None of the actors involved – both individuals and the organizations – are able to walk away with clean hands in this story.
Khaled al-Khalifa turns out to be perhaps the most difficult opponent Gabriel Allon has encountered so far. Both have lots of resources to back them up, and both are extremely skilled and smart.
The complex and very well told story in Prince of Fire has a lot of twists and turns, as well as false identities, double-crosses and misleading information. And the action is fast and furious: assassinations, bombings and kidnappings.
Prince of Fire is a great addition to the Gabriel Allon series. It is an excellent, very exciting spy thriller.

