Portrait of an Unknown Woman, Daniel Silva, author; Edoardo Ballerini, narrator
Gabriel Allon has retired and has begun a new career as an art restorer. When his friend Julian believes he may have acquired a forged painting, especially after an attempt is made on his life, he calls Allon to help him find out if his painting is a legitimate recovered piece from the Holocaust, or the very costly and disastrous purchase of a fake.
Although Allon is no longer an investigator, he agrees to help Julian. Soon his life is also in danger, as are those he calls in to help him. The familiar characters from past novels, Sara and her husband Christopher, join him in his effort. Sara is very much involved in the art world and may also have been duped into buying and selling fraudulent paintings. This could ruin her business as well as Julian’s.
In the quest for answers, they discover that there is a criminal enterprise engaging in the buying, selling of forgeries and then falsely authenticating them. It is a large network of criminals that are not afraid of engaging in violence. How to pursue the criminals is a problem, not only for their safety, but the revelation of this level of fraud could destroy the art world and the museums that may have been compromised with purchases of fakes.
For most of the book, the non-stop tension and excitement of the usual Allon mystery is missing, which is a disappointment. There is a lot of detail which is distracting. There is only a smattering of action, but there is danger afoot toward the end which captures the reader’s attention. Still, my favorite series has taken a dramatic turn in another, less desirable direction.
The author seems to have decided to use politics as a theme to promote his own progressive bent. His accusations of racism and his concern for global warming are negatively directed toward America. These opinions of his may or may not please all of his readers. Perhaps he should return to the action packed novels of the past and leave the political points of view to others. The narrator enhanced what would otherwise have been a slow read.