The Collector

The 23rd Gabriel Allon spy novel is finally here! I wasn't sure if this book would be able to maintain my interest given that last year the main character retired from his spy job for the State of Israel. Last year's entry for the series, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, was fantastic but our spy hero retired. How could the series survive? After reading The Collector I have a bad feeling about this.

The publisher's summary:

Legendary art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon joins forces with a brilliant and beautiful master-thief to track down the world’s most valuable missing painting but soon finds himself in a desperate race to prevent an unthinkable conflict between Russia and the West. 

 

As you can tell from the above, the publisher didn't have much to say about the book. Silva's publisher summaries have always been 5+ paragraphs long. This should have been my first clue that the story was somewhat lacking. However, I missed the clue. I would have read the book anyway because I have enjoyed every book in the series. 

In The Collector, Vermeer's painting "The Concert," painted in 1664, was cut from its frame in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 and stolen along with 12 other works. It could be the most valuable stolen object. There have been boasts about the whereabouts of the painting and leads over the years, and they've led nowhere. When a South African shipping tycoon murdered in Amalfi turns out to have a secret vault holding an empty frame that matches the dimensions of the purloined masterpiece, the Italian art police call Gabriel Allon for assistance. 

The first half of the novel was a gripping art heist story. I thought it was a good place for the series to continue. Our protagonist, Gabriel Allon, was the consummate spy. He had a side interest in art and painting that he was tremendously talented in pursuing. He was able to create fakes of famous paintings from almost any artist.

The art heist story introduced a new series character. Ingrid Johansen is a brilliant computer hacker. She is an extraordinarily talented thief. She accepted a $10 million payment to steal the Vermeer from a palazzo in Amalfi, not realizing that there's a much broader conspiracy. Ingrid ends up working with Gabriel to find the painting that she stole.

This fantastic art heist story abruptly ends halfway into the novel. The international spy trade picks up the remainder of the story with no apparent connection to the first half with the exception that one of the bad actors in the heist is connected to the Russian government. I did not care for this part of the book. While the last two chapters try to connect the two, it didn't work for me. Silva has also incorporated the Ukraine-Russia War into the story along with a threat of nuclear war. It was not plausible given that half of this 400+ page book was solely an art theft story.

I am disappointed with The Collector. I am rating it 2 out of 5 stars.