On a bright morning in Rome, a terrible explosion rips a hole in the Israeli embassy. Moments later, four gunmen cut down survivors as they stagger from the burning building. Art restorer Gabriel Allon, working in Venice on an altarpiece, is hastily recalled to Israel and drawn back into the heart of the secret service he had hoped to leave behind. A dossier strips away Allon's secrets and lays bare his history. A dossier that falls into terrorist hands. Now Allon must track an elusive master terrorist across a landscape drenched in generations of blood. And soon the trail turns in on itself, until - finally - he can no longer be certain who is stalking whom . . . From the author of The English Assassin 'A passionate, intelligently crafted entry that cements the series' place among today's top spy fiction.' Publishers Weekly 'Silva has now indisputably joined the ranks of Graham Greene and John Le Carré.' The Wahingtonian