Moscow Rules

From Publishers Weekly Paul Gigante, who read Silva's Secret Servant, resumes his outstanding rendering of Gabriel Allon and his crew of Israeli counterterrorism experts. Once again, Gigante highlights Allon's strange blend of artist and assassin by giving him a quiet yet thoroughly persuasive voice. Gigante also deftly handles Silva's large, polyglot cast of arms dealers, terrorists, art dealers, wives, mistresses and even children. He does less well with the new Russian characters, Ivan and Elena, who speak with thick Russian accents, but use Anglicized pronunciations of their own names. Ivan sounds macho and threatening, but Elena is played with too much emotionalism, which detracts from the credibility of her decision to endanger her children and herself. Gigante's quick pace and narrative skill will keep listeners enthralled. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, May 26 ). (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Bookmarks Magazine Gabriel Allon returns in fine form in Moscow Rules. That is, he is as faithful, competent, and moody as ever as he once again becomes entangled in a conspiracy he’d rather have avoided. One of Silva’s strengths throughout the series is avoiding black-and-white depictions of issues ranging from extremism to terrorism to love, although there’s usually a political message at the endâ€"and Silva imbues Moscow Rules with such nuance. As the Chicago Sun-Times points out, “Silva just gets better as the questions get harder.” Silva’s portrayal of the new Moscow ruled by the same iron fist as the old fascinated critics, who also praised his gift for setting, suspense, and action. A few critics quibbled over some stereotypical characterizations and convenient subplotsâ€"but still agreed that Moscow Rules is a fast-paced, provoking read. Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.