The Black Widow

In Daniel Silva's The Black Widow, the 16th installment in the Gabriel Allon military/espionage series,  this novel focused on red-hot real-life events that's ongoing overseas today. For Gabriel Allon, he's a legendary art restorer and Israeli field operative who's supposedly "died" a year ago. But when ISIS attacks the Weinberg Center in France, it was up to him to come up with a plan to stop the known leader of the ISIS caliphate in his tracks. With his sources in Frances, English, USA and Israel, they had gathered intelligence from a ISIS recruiter that appeared valuable to them. And before they knew, ISIS had attacked Amsterdam before it was too late. With a little research, Gabriel found the perfect way to infiltrate ISIS by recruiting a French Palestinian doctor named Natalie Mizrahi. With vigorous training, they transformed her to Dr. Leila Hadawi and made her a "black widow",  a female recruit to mourn the loss of the dead as a suicide bomber. Before she knew it, Leila had been ingrained and met Safia Bourdane, a blonde "black widow" who started those attacks. And with their friendship, Natalie goes to Syria and learns about why they needed her services-later she discovered the real reason: to treat the monster known as Saladin and to gain his confidence by tending to his medical needs. She did that and later learned what he would be up to and the next target would be in the USA. Now it would be up to Natalie to inform Gabriel before it would be too late for the final attack...

This was an amazing and a mesmerizing espionage thriller that deals with real-life issues in current events.  I did care for Gabriel as a newly doted father who was about to embark on a new role, though his first wife Leah was catatonic with the emotional scars of the past twenty years ago. I also cared for Natalie on how she chose to undergo a dangerous operation and risked her life for it. I do see some sparks between her and Mikhail as he cared for her. The vast locations that spread from the Middle East, Europe and the USA were vividly enticing and compelling with every action-packed scenic setting. This would have you at the edge of the seat with non-stop action, suspense, drama and hard-core intrigue.

Will you be there to stop the Black Widow today?

The Unlikely Spy

Like the old adage went: All is fair in love and war. But all bets were off, when it's World War Two. From USA to England and Germany in Europe, that's a war brewing between Hitler and Churchill in this historical espionage thriller. This had a little bit of everything for a good thriller to get you hooked and caught up in the action. The Unlikely Spy was about one female spy who changed everything for war and risked her life--and her heart. Catherine Blake wasn't your ordinary woman. It was just a ruse and a façade. Peter Jordan worked for the Navy as an engineer, a widower with a young son back at home, who fell for her. And Albert Vicary was on the trail to cover her tracks. Like a ping-pong match, you witnessed how the Germans, the Brits and the Americans, fought in this long war. With historical accurate action with a fictional twist, there were so many surprises in store for this novel with a devastating ending. This stand alone will get you hooked into his two spy thriller series as well.

This was an excellent historical thriller that took place during the second World War. I did feel sad for Peter, when he lost his wife and worked on a top-secret job working on the bridge. I liked Vicary, who was lonely and craved intriguing attention. We do get to be in the front row seat for this action-packed novel with real life events and characters from the past. I didn't care for much for Catherine Blake, who used everyone to her own gain. I did feel true emotions for Jenny, who wanted to be free from her father and fell for a German soldier. Every character had a central side story to this gripping novel from page one to the end.

Ready for a thrill ride? Check this stand alone novel today!