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  • Portrait of a Spy

  • By: Daniel Silva
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (142 ratings)

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Portrait of a Spy

By: Daniel Silva
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Summary

‘Allon is the 21st century Bond’ – Daily Mail

Gabriel Allon, secret agent, assassin and master art restorer, returns in a spellbinding new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author

Europe is exploding. And one man must find out why.

For Gabriel Allon and his wife Chiara, it was supposed to be the start of a romantic weekend in London. But nothing is ever that simple when you’re an off-duty spy and assassin.

Bombings in Paris and Copenhagen have put him on edge and when Gabriel notices a man exhibiting several traits common to suicide bombers, he follows him into the Covent Garden throng. He’s determined to prevent the carnage he fears is about to take place, but before Gabriel can draw his sidearm, he is knocked to the pavement by two plain-clothes police officers.

A moment later he looks up to find a scene from his nightmares.

From the streets of New York and London, to the unforgiving landscape of the Saudi desert, Gabriel Allon is in a race to the death against a calculating mass-murderer that he dare not lose…

Praise for Daniel Silva:

’Sexily brooding Allon… must be the most famous superspy not played by Daniel Craig’ Daily Telegraph

elegantly paced, subtle and well-informed. If you haven’t read Silva before, try Portrait of a Spy – and then go back and read the series.’ Daily Mail

‘[A] top-notch thriller by a writer with the inside track on spying’ The Sun

'In true Bauer fashion, shoot-outs, kidnappings and international terror plots follow Gabriel Allon wherever he goes' USA Today

‘Silva builds tension with breathtaking double and triple turns of the plot’ People

©2012 Daniel Silva (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
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What listeners say about Portrait of a Spy

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping story

As always, the level of detail and realism is marvelous, which for me is very important

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The plot.

Poignant subject matter. Easy to listen to.Interesting characters.
Very amusingly narrated at times.
A very modern subject.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Yet again another really good listen, a gripping story, good plot line and very well read.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a great story

I thought the story was superb. However I was expecting it to end in the sand dunes or shortly thereafter but he writes a good thriller

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Well narrated and good thriller

As far as I can see, Book 11 is the earliest available in the series.
I enjoyed this so much, immediately downloaded 12 & 13.
Whilst I was not disappointed with the stories, I was dismayed at the changes of narrators which went from Good for 11, mediocre for 12 and downright appalling for 13. So bad that I won't be buying any books narrated by him.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Bit wordy in places

Good story with excellent narration by Simon Vance. I found at times there was little action and too much description of people and places although this is necessary. I also found it hard to remember the many characters at times. overall a good story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good story, great narration

Would you listen to Portrait of a Spy again? Why?

Probably not - there was nothing remarkable about the story itself. Don't get me wrong, it was a good, solid, thoroughly enjoyable spy thriller but there was nothing in it that made it stand out from the crowd. Or indeed the rest of the Gabriel Allon series. I've read a few in the series and they've all been cut from a similar cloth: pick any one at random and you're guaranteed an entertaining story but I suspect if you were to read them all back-to-back you'd quickly tire of them.

What did you like best about this story?

The narration. Simon Vance is a wonderful voice actor and is a joy to listen to; he really brings the characters to life.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"Gabriel Allon has another brush with death"

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping & faultless

Gripping & faultless story and narration from the beginning to the end. I enjoyed every moment.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

First class narration and a good story

What did you like most about Portrait of a Spy?

I bought this book mainly because it was narrated by Simon Vance (from Peter May's novels) and the star rating. I was not disappointed. Vance forever excellent a real artist, and I have found a new series of books. I just hope the other narrators do the series justice.

What did you like best about this story?

Good plot, fast moving and full of intrigue.

What does Simon Vance bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brings the characters to life, from the quiet care of Chiara to the irascible old Israeli spy master. Top class!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I walk the dogs and listen to this book, they're both shattered!

Any additional comments?

Hope the next one is as good.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Strangely dull

My first Daniel Silva book so was unsure what to expect. To my mind it seemed to lack pace and I didn’t find any of the characters engaging. The plot was thin and moved along at a plodding pace.

Simon Vance always does a good job but even so I got tired of all the accents, which grated after a while.

Probably won’t bother with Mr Silva’s other titles after finding this one disappointing and, well, a bit dull.

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2 people found this helpful