Moscow Rules
A
Gabriel Allon Mystery
Daniel Silva
Putnam (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-399-15501-5 (0399155015)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15501-7 (9780399155017)
Publication Date: July 2008
List Price: $26.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): The death of a journalist leads Gabriel Allon to
Russia, where he finds that, in terms of spycraft, even he has
something to learn. He's playing by Moscow rules now.
This is not the grim, gray Moscow of Soviet times but a new Moscow,
awash in oil wealth and choked with bulletproof Bentleys. A Moscow
where power resides once more behind the walls of the Kremlin and where
critics of the ruling class are ruthlessly silenced. A Moscow where a
new generation of Stalinists is plotting to reclaim an empire lost and
to challenge the global dominance of its old enemy, the United States.
One such man is Ivan Kharkov, a former KGB colonel who built a global
investment empire on the rubble of the Soviet Union. Hidden within that
empire, however, is a more lucrative and deadly business: Kharkov is an
arms dealer—and he is about to deliver Russia's most
sophisticated weapons to al-Qaeda. Unless Allon can learn the time and
place of the delivery, the world will see the deadliest terror attacks
since 9/11—and the clock is ticking fast.
Review:
Daniel Silva's eighth novel of espionage and international intrigue,
Moscow Rules, has Gabriel Allon summoned by Israeli intelligence from
his holiday in Umbria to Moscow to look into the death of Aleksandr
Lubin, a Russian independent journalist and the bane of the new
Russia's existence.
Lubin was on a mission to expose the offenses of Ivan Kharkov, the son
of a senior KGB officer and boy wonder of KGB’s Fifth Chief
Doctorate. When the Soviet Union began to crumble, Kharkov amassed a
fortune in banking, investing heavily in energy, raw materials and real
estate. He became one of the newly minted billionaires of the new
Kremlin. His holdings included shipping and air freight with branches
reaching across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Lubin was
investigating the rumor that Kharkov was amassing dangerous arms to
sell to al-Qaeda in order that they could continue their assaults on
the United States and their allies. Allon, as a member of
Israel’s foreign intelligence service, brings together and
manages a group of spies and counter spies, negotiators and mediators,
and must travel around the world in order to stop the sale of the arms
to al-Qaeda. Time is quickly running out.
Although the primary plot of Moscow
Rules is a tremendously absorbing account of the
potential of global war, the interesting subplots
within the story are also worthy of mention, most notably the loving and amusing marriage of
Gabriel and Chiara Allon that is in marked contrast to the volatile
marriage of Ivan and Elena Kharkov. There are also the deep rooted and
entertaining friendships between Allon and members of the "Office"
(Israeli intelligence). The fusion of the critical threats of terrorism
with the relative normalcy of the personal lives of the agents is
remarkably well done and the intricate scheme that Allon conceives to foil
the arms sale encourages the reader to keep turning the pages.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Moscow Rules and to FSB Associates for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
The Kill Artist
Random House (Hardcover), January 2001
ISBN-10: 0-375-50090-1 (0375500901)
ISBN-13: 978-0-375-50090-9 (9780375500909)
The English
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Putnam (Hardcover), February 2002
ISBN-10: 0-399-14851-5 (0399148515)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14851-4 (9780399148514)
The Confessor
Putnam (Hardcover), February 2003
ISBN-10: 0-399-14972-4 (0399149724)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-14972-6 (9780399149726)
A Death in Vienna
Putnam (Hardcover), February 2004
ISBN-10: 0-399-15143-5 (0399151435)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15143-9 (9780399151439)
Prince of Fire
Putnam (Hardcover), February 2005
ISBN-10: 0-399-15243-1 (0399152431)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15243-6 (9780399152436)
The Messenger
Putnam (Hardcover), July 2006
ISBN-10: 0-399-15335-7 (0399153357)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15335-8 (9780399153358)
The Secret
Servant
Putnam (Hardcover), July 2007
ISBN-10: 0-399-15422-1 (0399154221)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15422-5 (9780399154225)
Moscow Rules
Putnam (Hardcover), July 2008
ISBN-10: 0-399-15501-5 (0399155015)
ISBN-13: 978-0-399-15501-7 (9780399155017)
Omnimystery keywords for Moscow Rules ...
Location(s) referenced: Moscow, Russia.