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In THE NEW GIRL, Daniel Silva's 19th thriller in the Gabriel Allon Series, the author again creates a tale of intrigue with events echoing the headlines of today's papers. Sometimes it seems we are reading a real behind-the-scenes tale of what might actually have happened as an international crisis unfolded—with the names changed to protect the innocent, although who is really innocent is not easy to know. Both in a brief Foreword and in his more extensive Author's Note, Silva explains that he had to discard and re-imagine his entire novel after the horrendous murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year because the model for his main character, Mohammed bin Salaam (MBS) of Saudi Arabia, was implicated.
In the opening chapter, we are introduced to Jihan, a beautiful young schoolgirl in Switzerland, the twelve-year-old daughter of a fabulously rich and mysterious family. One afternoon, on her way home from private school, her body guards are murdered and she is brutally kidnapped. We learn that her father is Khalid bin Mohammed (KBS), who is going to be the next ruler of Saudi Arabia and has already taken power into his own hands by creating much change. The whole enlightened world holds great hopes for the future of his country under his leadership. He seems to be pointing the way to a modernization of the religious laws that had subjugated his people for so long. He allowed women to drive and to attend sporting events. And then the dissident Saudi journalist Omar Nawwaf is murdered in a gruesome fashion, revealing to everyone the darker side of this new ruler.
To find his beloved daughter, KBS reaches out to Gabriel Allon—spy and art restorer, now the head of Israeli Intelligence. He does this through his connection with Sarah Bancroft, who had at one point worked for both Allon and the CIA and is now an important museum curator helping KBS with his art collection. It turns out that the kidnappers do not want a monetary ransom. Any amount would be possible for KBS to come up with. as he is wealthy beyond any possible imagining. But they want something more costly—his resignation. Allon despises KBS for his master-minding of the murder but has certain conflicting feelings as well. This Saudi seems to be the only reasonable choice to lead his country away from the fanatic religious ideas that have devastated human rights.
Ultimately, to prevent someone worse from being the leader, Allon reluctantly decides to get involved, and pulls in his familiar group of Israeli spy helpers, as well as Sarah Bancroft. They find information and devise plans, but the kidnappers always seem to be a step ahead of them. They cannot discover who is really behind the kidnapping and demands, but KBS decides to do what they ask to get his daughter back. He gives up his claim to leadership. To retrieve his daughter, the Israelis and KBS are instructed to go to a field. There, Jihan appears--but what happens there next is best left for the reader to discover.
Through careful research and work, Allon and his group put together the information that leads to the person behind the kidnapping. Connections to the Russian government and a particular Russian oligarch become apparent. Revenge has always been a great motivator for the Israelis, and this time is no exception. Once again, the reader is left with a deep sense that the real world, as well as the fictional world of Daniel Silva, needs a Gabriel Allon.
§ Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, June 2019
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