The Jews of France are being targeted, ISIS has struck again, this time in Paris, and Gabriel Allon's friend Hannah Weinberg is dead. Gabriel, is an art restorer, when he is not an Israeli masterspy, and Hannah has left him a priceless painting in her will, a painting that has a history for the Diaspora. After another deadly ISIS strike in Amsterdam, the world's secret services, led by the Israelis, must take action to prevent the most deadly act of terrorism the world has ever seen. It all comes down to the ability of a young French-born Israeli doctor, Natalie Mizrahi, to infiltrate the terrorist group as a Black Widow, a woman who has lost her spouse or fiancé to the hands of the infidels and is bent on revenge.

I had long felt that the spy thriller had suffered greatly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a long-time fan of spy novels, it seemed to me that something was lacking, a spark was missing; the new foes were not as interesting as the Nazis or the KGB, but that was counting without Daniel Silva, who with THE BLACK WIDOW has reinstated my faith in spy thrillers. Mr. Silva's encyclopedic knowledge of the Middle East spying world is so astounding, as to be almost prescient: as he was writing his novel, uncannily similar events happened in real life; that's when you know you're in good hands. THE premise for THE BLACK WIDOW reminded me a bit of the great John Le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl, as the subject is similar, but that's where any resemblance ends.

Daniel Silva is an exceptionally gifted writer, his prose is beautiful and very evocative, and while globetrotting along with the spies, I got the flavor of every country that was part of the operations. The same thing goes for every single character, which all were so vivid, it was like watching a movie, or more precisely at times, like being right there with the spies, the terrorists, and the heads of states keeping an eye on the monitors while cameras record every single event. This is where lies the genius of Mr. Silva: creating characters so credible that they matter to you, that make you feel interested in their destiny, and that goes for the "other side" as well. And this is what makes a spy thriller great: a foe who is not a caricature, but a mesmerizing, polarizing individual you believe in, and you understand his need to vanquish the infidels.

For the most part, THE BLACK WIDOW is not fast-paced, and neither is spying, however it is far from sluggish: watching the set-up and preparations for Natalie's mission is enthralling, scary, and even I, a spy-novel veteran, couldn't, wouldn't stop reading. And oof! I would advise readers with a heart condition to think twice before picking up THE BLACK WIDOW, because when everything is set in motion, I think my heart was beating as fast as Natalie's, sometimes I could hardly breathe.s. The story becomes so tense, it is almost unbearable, my stomach was in knots, and it was absolutely amazing; this is what a great spy story is all about! THE BLACK WIDOW is a thick book, and I wasn't bored for a single second, and I bore easily. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a spy thriller as much, and since I'm not going to give away any spoilers, I cannot help but wonder if two characters are going to have starring roles in future Gabriel Allon novels, but I cannot wait!