The head of Israel’s intelligence service goes after the Russian President’s fortune in “The Cellist,” the 21st novel in Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series.
When former CIA agent Sarah Bancroft discovers the corpse of wealthy newspaper publisher and staunch Russian insurrectionist Viktor Orlov, the subsequent investigation headed by Allon exposes the Russian President’s financier, and thus the possibility of infiltrating this inner sanctum and wiping out a large chunk of the autocrat’s assets currently utilised to destabilize the west through vast disinformation campaigns and cyber attacks.
The titular cellist is Isabel Brenner, an extraordinarily talented musician who works for the fictitious RhineBank, which ― through a multitude of underhanded practices ― funds rogue states, and launders money for the Russian government. Having borne witness to an array of illegalities, Brenner has decided to turn on her employers. She becomes Allon’s infiltrator, worming her way into the heart of the ‘Laundromat,’ where they hope to poison it from within.
This is a fairly straightforward ‘follow the money’ story that stretches from Europe to a rather cumbersome grand finale in Washington DC. As ever, Silva rips his fiction from the headlines of today, but his denouement, I’d say, is almost too closely linked to the real world, and feels shoehorned; added to demonstrate its timeliness to readers.
“The Cellist” is an effective and enjoyable spy novel, meticulously plotted as always, with a grand cast of characters, many of whom return from earlier works, but it lacks some of the pizzazz of Silva’s best; perhaps because Allon is on the sidelines for the majority of it, and Brenner doesn’t have enough depth to be much more than a chess piece, manipulated for the sake of plot.
So, a solid addition to the Allon canon, but I’m keen to see the series evolve, as it has done time and time again, with continuity-chattering severity; we’ve been inching towards the Israeli spymaster’s retirement for several books now. I’m ready to see what’s next.
Simon McDonald 
For Daniel Silva: How can such a magnificent author be such a fool to get engaged in American politics of which he knows about one half of the story. He has cheapened his reputation as a person to take one side of a story. That is your option you have the pen, but many of us are feeling very betrayed . Jz
I think when you’re writing contemporary political thrillers like Silva does, you need to take a side, because his characters can’t exist in a vacuum. You’re right, in doing so he possibly alienates one chunk of his audience, but there’s no middle line to straddle nowadays; whatever side you’re on it’s “us against them.”
I’ll accept your answer, after all he does write fiction
I’ve read 15+ books from Daniel Silva and enjoyed every one. However this book is shockingly littered with numerous references to the “January 6, 2021 Insurrection Hoax” eleven separate incidences of bashing our former President’s character and propping up his wife Jaime Gangell’s clueless race-baiting employer, CNN every chance he gets.
Shame on Daniel Silva. I never signed up to hear his politically regressive, Marxist, BLM ideology. No more. I’m done.
I’ve read 15+ books from Daniel Silva and enjoyed every one. However this book is shockingly littered with numerous references to the “January 6, 2021 Insurrection Hoax” eleven separate incidences of bashing our former President’s character and propping up his wife Jaime Gangell’s clueless race-baiting employer, CNN every chance he gets.
Shame on Daniel Silva. I never signed up to hear his politically regressive, Marxist, BLM ideology. No more. I’m done.
My first Daniel Silva and the last. When I got to the last 50 pages or so, I knew why the book didn’t really hang together – Silva was too motivated to get to his contrived end…Trump was responsible, of course!
Now that Trump’s Russian connection has been exposed as a sham, this book seems hopelessly political. Sorry, if I wanted that much of a leftist slant on historical fiction, I’d simply subscribe to the NYT.
Each to their own, friend. I’ll still be here reading Daniel Silva and maintaining my subscription to the NYT. I hope you enjoy whatever you read next.
Don’t waste your time if you’re a DeSilva fan, this is perhaps the worst book he ever wrote. It goes beyond fiction into fantasy and he dives into left-wing politics and even suggest that the American Democratic Party is an Israeli supporter. For a guy who writes about Israel he could not be farther out from the truth. Adios Dan will never get my money again