The Order

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: George Guidall

The stunning new thriller from the master of modern espionage

When Pope Paul VII dies suddenly, apparently of a heart attack, legendary spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon is quickly summoned to Rome. The Holy Father's loyal private secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati, suspects his master was murdered. The Swiss Guard who was standing watch the night of the pope's death is missing. So, too, is the letter the Holy Father was writing during the final hours of his life. A letter addressed to an old friend: Gabriel.

While researching in the Vatican Secret Archives, I came upon a most remarkable book ...

The book is a long-suppressed gospel that calls into question the accuracy of the New Testament's depiction of one of the most portentous events in human history. For that reason alone, the Order of St. Helena will stop at nothing to keep it out of Gabriel's hands. A shadowy Catholic society with ties to the European far right, the Order is plotting to seize control of the papacy. And it is only the beginning ...

Praise for Daniel Silva:

'A spy-fiction master ... Silva builds suspense like a symphony conductor' Booklist

'One of the greatest spy novelists the genre has ever known' CrimeReads

'If you like Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher, get to know Gabriel Allon' Australian Women's Weekly

Disappointing mixture of plot and polemic

I have enjoyed all of the Gabriel Allon books prior to this one very much indeed. However, in this case, it feels to me as if Daniel Silva has cobbled together a mix of Gabriel Allon's characteristic well-plotted adventures with a ranting political polemic. While I share Mr Silva's rather obvious concern for the rise of Fascist politicians and far-right thugs, I was left with the impression that he felt so a great an urgency to unseat these facists and racists in real life (a goal I applaud) that he mired the plot in an overlong manifesto.