Gabriel Allon was a key operative in secret Isreali-intellence missions.  When his wife and daughter fell victim to the danger that accompanied him everywhere, Gabriel quit and devoted himself to the work of art restortation-- previously a cover for his secret missions.  But now Ari Shamron, the head of Isreali intelligence, needs Gabriel's particular kind of experience to thwart a Palestinian plot to destroy the peace negotiations in the Middle East.  The architect of this plot, a Palestinian zealot named Tariq, is a lethal part of Gabriel's past, and so as the two begin an intercontinental game of hide-and-seek, with life and death as the prizes, the motives are as personal as they are political.  The story, by an author who was praised by Newsday for "Bringing new life to the international thriller," features a colorful supporting cast-- including the Magus-like Shamron, a beautiful French-Jewish model who is seeking retribution for her family's death in the Holocaust, and a marvelously comic down-at-the-heels London art dealer.  And it includes fascinating background detail about the Palestinian situation and the cutthroat art world.  All of these elements add up to a smart and electrically exciting international thriller.
