Good read

RELEASE NOTES:

Travelling to PA!! Enjoy!!

Finally! This is the second copy of this book I'd ordered from Paperbackswap.com -- the first was cancelled -- and then I'd ordered a separate copy from alibris.com, only to have THAT one never show up, either.

I was starting to think I was cursed to never read this book, which is problematic, as my book club has it on our list and I'm the leader of the group...

Thanks, teyecats, for bailing me out!

Well, book club meets in a few days, and I'm interested in hearing what everyone thinks about this because I have very mixed reactions to it.

My major complaint is that there's little to no character development. Maybe if I'd read more of the Gabriel Allon books, I'd know him better, but it seems that action takes the place of character development. I never totally understand Gabriel's reactions to the Leah/Chiara plot developments.

The hate between these two groups of people makes me sad. I don't deny it's real; I just hate it. Killing people doesn't solve a damn thing and yet we continue to kill each other (regardless of who the groups are).

Like I said, I'm curious to know what book club thinks about this, but I suspect it's going to turn into more of a political discussion than one about the book itself. Which might not be so bad, unless we fail to come up with a solution that'll bring us all peace.

Ohmygosh!!! Thankyou so much for the RABCK. Silva's books are kinda like candy for me, I just can't quit.

I had no rings to read, no readalongs to keep up with and just wanted to read something because I wanted to - this was on the top of the pile. This wasn't as good as the other Gabriel Allon novels but I can't really put my finger on why. Perhaps they're beginning to run together since the primary characters as well as the secondary characters and the backstory never really change. The development with Leah was unexpected but I'm not sure it was welcome. I do think Silva is one of the best writers of political thrillers these days and I have managed to learn a bit about the Arab-Israeli conflict. I'll have to start looking for The Messenger which has been out since the beginning of the year.

Thanks again, West, for the RABCK!