Get ready because on July 18th, Gabriel Allon is set to rocket back into bookstores in The Collector, the exhilarating new thriller from master spy novelist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva.
One of ficton’s most beloved characters, Gabriel Allon, the famed art restorer and once wayward son of Israeli intelligence, first appeared in Silva’s hit 2000 novel The Kill Artist. Since then, Allon has gone on to anchor twenty-two books and counting, all the while endearing himself to readers while simultaneously dominating the top of the New York Times bestsellers list year in and year out. Over that span, Silva has been widely recognized as one of the greatest spy novelists of all time, often mentioned alongside other celebrated scribes such as John le Carre. Simply put, to not read his work is to miss out on one of the most prolific writers of our time. So, if you aren’t reading him—start.
Anytime Silva gears up to release a new book, it’s immediately noteworthy, but fans should be especially excited for The Collector. His last novel, Portrait of an Unknown Woman (2022), marked a shift in the life of Gabriel Allon, further cementing his role post chief-of-the-Office. The next chapter, if you will, one that Silva once explained in an interview with me back in 2020 that was designed to set up his beloved hero for many years to come. So while this is already the twenty-third book in the series, and Allon is a touch older than other big-name protagonists, Silva has been clear that he has plenty more stories to tell, so don’t expect the old spymaster to go anywhere anytime soon.
In a newsletter just this morning, Silva announced the full plot details for The Collector, and let’s just say Allon once again finds himself in the middle of another conspiracy that’ll rock readers to their core. Check ’em out, along with the official cover art, below.
In the electrifying new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva, Gabriel Allon undertakes a search for a stolen Vermeer masterpiece and uncovers a conspiracy that could bring the world to the brink of nuclear Armageddon.
On the morning after the Venice Preservation Society’s annual black-tie gala, art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon enters his favorite coffee bar on the island of Murano to find General Cesare Ferrari, the commander of the Art Squad, eagerly awaiting his arrival. The Carabinieri have made a startling discovery in the Amalfi villa of a murdered South African shipping tycoon—a secret vault containing an empty frame and stretcher matching the dimensions of the world’s most valuable missing painting. General Ferrari asks Gabriel to quietly track down the artwork before the trail goes cold.
“Isn’t that your job?”
“Finding stolen paintings? Technically speaking, yes. But you’re much better at it than we are.”
The painting in question is The Concert by Johannes Vermeer, one of thirteen works of art stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. With the help of a most unlikely ally, a beautiful Danish computer hacker and professional thief, Gabriel soon discovers that the painting has changed hands as part of an illicit billion-dollar business deal involving a man code-named the Collector, an energy executive with close ties to the highest levels of Russian power.
The missing masterpiece is the lynchpin of a conspiracy that if successful, could plunge the world into a conflict of apocalyptic proportions. To foil the plot, Gabriel must carry out a daring heist of his own, with millions of lives hanging in the balance.
Elegant, meticulously plotted, and filled with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Collector moves swiftly from the graceful canals of Venice to the windswept coast of northern Denmark to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia—and, finally, to a heart-pounding climax in Russia as current as tomorrow’s headlines.
This extraordinary novel—wildly entertaining, deeply illuminative, with flashes of wry humor—demonstrates why Daniel Silva is the unrivaled master of international intrigue and suspense, and “quite simply the best” (Kansas City Star)
Daniel Silva is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Spy, The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, The Defector, The Rembrandt Affair, Portrait of a Spy, The Fallen Angel, The English Girl, The Heist, The English Spy, The Black Widow, House of Spies, The Other Woman, The New Girl, and The Order. He is best known for his long-running thriller series starring spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon. Silva’s books are critically acclaimed bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 30 languages. He resides in Florida with his wife, television journalist Jamie Gangel, and their twins, Lily and Nicholas. For more information visit www.danielsilvabooks.com
Fans excited to pre-order The Collector can now do so anywhere books are sold ahead of its July 18th release. Additionally, Silva just announced that special signed copies can be pre-ordered from Barnes & Noble (click here), so get those orders in while supplies last!
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. And to take part in free, exclusive BOOK CLUBS each month, join The Real Book Spy on Discord.