Book Recommendation

There are no spy thrillers being written today better than those by Daniel Silva. His latest, The Secret Servant is a fast-paced, brutal and entertaining ride into the world of al-Qaeda, as it exists today. His protagonist, art restorer and Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon, is working to release the kidnapped daughter of the American Ambassador to the UK. As usual, there are breath-taking chases, puzzles to figure out, and a couple of very satisfying uses of excessive force that Allon is known to employ when required. But aside from the action, the message is a dark one. Militant Islam isn’t just coming. It’s here, and it wants to take over. Silva’s previous Gabriel Allon book The Messenger, deals with a Saudi plot against the Pope. In an interview on his official website, Daniel Silva talks about the realization many people in the West are finally coming around to, that Saudi Arabia is not our friend.

The Saudis are, quite simply, the perfect villains. They have a seemingly endless supply of money and hold the economic security of not only this country but the entire world in the palm of their hand. They have been described as one of our closest allies in the Middle East, yet at various times throughout their history, they have behaved more like enemies than friends. I also believe that Saudi Arabia bears a large responsibility for what happened to this country on 9/11 and have never truly been held accountant. The 9/11 Commission described them as "a problematic ally in the war against terrorism," a stunning example of understatement. They are, to a large degree, the ideologues and financiers of global Islamic extremism. Indeed, I believe one can argue it was the House of Saud that started the fire of the global jihad movement in the first place. The Messenger gave me an opportunity to explore some of those themes.

And…

Q: Without giving too much away of the plot, The Messenger deals with a terrorist conspiracy to attack the Vatican-a conspiracy financed and enabled by a Saudi billionaire and a former Saudi intelligence officer. All of your work has some foundation in fact. I assume this one does, too.

A: It does, indeed. In fact, the plot of The Messenger was inspired to a large degree by a report produced by German intelligence in 2004. They found that a pair of Saudi companies-one of them was a hundred-million-dollar-a-year holding company-were essentially front companies for the Saudi intelligence service, and that these companies had substantial ties to al-Qaeda cells operating in Germany and Indonesia. The report made me think. What if the holding company was owned and operated by a globe-trotting billionaire with close ties to Washington elite? What if he was using his company and his businesses to move men and materiel around the globe? What if a terrorist mastermind was hidden somewhere within his empire? It didn’t take long before I had a frighteningly plausible scenario.

Silva’s work is remarkable and immensely entertaining, but with the clear bell of truth that as you read, is constantly ringing. Link to the interview with Daniel Silva.