Putnam, March 2004, 25.95, 446 pp.
ISBN 0399154435
When he is not restoring art, Israeli Gabriel Allon works as an espionage agent for his country. He is sent to Vienna to investigate the bombing of the Wartime Claims and Inquiries Bureau run by Eli Lavon. Gabriel learns that Eli was trying to prove that wealthy businessman Ludwig Vogel was an SS officer at Auschwitz. Vogel is spending millions to get the Austrian National Party candidate elected as chancellor.
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When Gabriel is kicked out of Austria, he travels to Israel. People working on the Holocaust believe that Vogel is actually Erich Radek, a monster responsible for the killings of thousands of Jews. Gabriel recognizes a picture of Radek because he is in one of his mother's paintings. He did something terrible to her as they were evacuating Auschwitz in 1945 and for Gabriel this case has become very personal. An organization that has international tentacles wants Gabriel to stop investigating and they hire the infamous hitman the Clockmaker to kill him before he exposes secrets that the group wants to stay buried.
A DEATH TO VIENNA is an exciting espionage thriller that will appeal to fans of John de Carre, Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler. The action is non-stop but the author does not neglect his characters that have a depth rarely seen in a work of this type. Drawing on facts, Daniel Silva portrays a world that would rather forget about the Holocaust or just as bad, believe it never happened. Readers will adore the troubled and vulnerable protagonist who fights in an invisible war against his country's enemies.
Harriet Klausner
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner
