Book Review: The Cellist by Daniel Silva

 

I very much enjoyed The Cellist. I've seen a number of reviewers on Goodreads whose political views were offended by the author's use of the insurrection we suffered in January as part of the plot and who then trashed the book. As much as I have tolerated many right-wing views in books of fictional spycraft, etc., including by Tom Clancy whose later books had characters slamming liberals or giving anti-abortion speeches, as well as more recent authors, I would think those whose views differ might understand that an author using real-world events to further his plot is just doing what he feels makes for a better story. There's a major event in this book (that I won't explain here so I don't spoil it) that turns on the extreme views of certain individuals who we've all seen on the news. The book itself focuses largely on the efforts of our longtime adversary, Russia, and its president, a money-hungry opponent of free elections. Russia and Israel remain staunch adversaries, and the plot revolves around Gabriel Allon's efforts to upend Russian money laundering efforts and ongoing initiatives to undermine the Western countries' way of life. Clearly, from some of the other Goodreads reviews, this book isn't for everyone, but I found it well written and entertaining.