The New Girl
-
-
3.9 • 43 Ratings
-
-
- $32.99
Publisher Description
From the internationally bestselling author of The Other Woman and House of Spies comes another stunning thriller in his latest action-packed tale of high stakes international intrigue.
NOW YOU SEE HER
NOW YOU DON'T
THE NEW GIRL
At an exclusive private school in Switzerland, mystery surrounds the identity of the beautiful girl who arrives each morning in a heavily protected motorcade fit for a head of state. In truth, her father is Khalid bin Mohammed, the controversion crown prince of Saudi Arabia. And when his only child is brutally kidnapped, he turns to the one man he can trust to find her before it is too late.
Gabriel Allon, the legendary chief of Israeli intelligence, regards Khalid as a valuable if flawed partner in the fight against terror. Together they will become unlikely allies in a deadly secret war for control of the Middle East.
Both men have made their share of enemies. And both have everything to lose.
Extraordinary acclaim for The New Girl and the Gabriel Allon Series
'One of the greatest novelists the genre has ever known ... The New Girl is as close to perfect as you could ever hope for a thriller to be.' The Real Book Spy
'An excellent introduction for new readers' Publishers Weekly
'The New Girl is a brilliant novel ... Eye-opening and a joy to read' Bob Woodward
'Another jewel in the bedazzling crown of a spy-fiction master' Booklist (starred review)
'Excellent ... Readers will be enthralled by both the history and the up-to-the-minute plot that Silva spins with such finesse.' Publishers Weekly (starred review)
'A world-class practitioner of spy fiction' Washington Post
'This might be the best spy thriller since John le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy ... The Other Woman is an instant classic' CrimeReads
'With Silva's novels you find yourself being educated as well as being entertained ... Silva is that rarity of rarities, a writer whose stories just keep getting better.' Huffington Post
Customer Reviews
The recycled girl
Author
American. Former journalist turned spy novelist, most involving art restorer and Israeli assassin Gabriel Allon. Every one of Mr Silva’s novels has been a NY Times best seller.
Plot
Th only daughter of Saudi Crown prince Khalid bin Mohammed (‘KBM’)—Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) by another name—goes to an international school in Switzerland. En route to a chateau her old man owns in western France—he probably owns most of western France, eastern France too—the Princess is kidnapped. KBM was the great reformer but has been ‘on the nose’ since a dissident Saudi journo was murdered and dismembered at the embassy in Istanbul. (Sound familiar). Anyhow, the ransom note doesn’t demand money, of which he has plenty. Instead, it demands he abdicate and get out of sandy Dodge if he wants to see the apple, or possibly the fig, of his eye again. Who does KBM call? Not Ghostbusters in this case, but Gabriel Allon, who is now Director of the Israeli secret intelligence service, and has never flavour of the month in the Kingdom. The feeling is mutual, but Gabriel sees an opportunity to squirrel away brownie points for the future, and KBM knows Gabriel’s a guy who gets the job done. Quite a few jobs, in fact, given that this is book #19. Our hero must be pushing 70, but that seems not to matter. A number of old favourites (Sarah Bancroft, Christopher Keller, Eli Lavon, Mikahail Abramov, yada, yada) are at hand to give our boy a helping hand while he’s doin’ his thang.
Characters
Gabriel’s a bit wooden this time out. The others are true to form. It helps if you’ve read a few of the preceding volumes.
Prose
You don’t make the best seller lists every time at bat if you can’t write, which is why I’ve been a fan of Mr Silva for some time, but the story line here is more than a tad derivative.
Bottom line
Slick, professional spy story that’s entertaining enough, and topical in its own way, but far from Mr Silva’s best work. Maybe it’s time he pensioned Gabriel Allon off.
Note: Notwithstanding the title, Zooey Deschanel does not appear in this novel.