Daniel Silva’s 22nd Gabriel Allon installment returns the legendary spy to his original passion: art restoration. Now retired, Allon’s peaceful life in Venice with his wife and children gets upended when he’s drawn into the high-stakes world of art forgery. His old friend Julian Isherwood faces ruin over a dubious Van Dyck painting, pushing Allon back into the game. What follows is a skillful blend of art and espionage as Allon crafts forgeries of his own to ensnare a shadowy forgery syndicate and its financial backer. Silva’s sharp storytelling and insight into the art world shine, giving readers an inside look at the craft and deception of forgery. The plot […]
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The Last Mona Lisa
On August 21, 1911, Vincent Peruggia, an Italian criminal, stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum. The events that transpired during the two years before its recovery remain a mystery. Luke Perrone, an art history professor who has battled alcoholism, embarks on a quest to uncover the truth about his notorious ancestor, Peruggia. His search leads him to the Laurentian library in Florence, Italy, where he hopes to find his great-grandfather’s journal. He wants to know if a forgery replaced the stolen Mona Lisa prior to its recovery in 1913. Assisted by John Washington Smith, an ambitious analyst from Interpol’s Art Theft Division, and the enigmatic Alexandra Greene, Luke […]
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