Reviews

Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva

ceejay63's review against another edition

Similar to #21 in the series....he's getting too political & drifting away from the fast paced thriller of the first 20 books in the series. I won't read another..... very unfortunate.

macymcbeth's review against another edition

5.0

Portrait of an Unknown Woman is flawless. As Gabriel is retired now, he investigates a forged painting as a favor to an old friend. It delves into the art world and has everything we love about Daniel Silva's book: surprising twists and turns, engaging dialogue, new and old favorite characters, and a flowing narrative about art itself.

I always learn a little something from Silva's writing and this book is no exception. I thought the pacing was well done and the plot gripping.

I'm a little bummed that I've caught up in this series, but I've already marked my calendar for the release of Gabriel Allon, #23!

mattbutreads's review against another edition

relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.25

Simple sexy art theft thriller

chelseas_reads's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

portrait of an unknown woman is an excellent book for those who love con artists, espionage and theivery (all of these are absolute favourites of mine, although i haven’t read much about it).

along with the beautiful backdrop of paris, and a lovely cast of fun and relatable characters, and short chapters, i couldn’t have asked for a better book to read. did i mention loads of witty banter?

while i haven’t read the other books (i think there’s like 20????) I’ll definitely start working my way through the rest of them

apinsker's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.25

Tooooooo sloooow!!!  Skimmed the last quarter of the book. Way too much repetition and no true forward movement. Ugh. Was interesting at the start and then it just lost me and I did not care at all. 

pomo's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

readingqueen83's review against another edition

5.0

This was a great read!!!! Much much better than the last 2 book in the series!!!! This was fast paced!!!

nesita's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

varreguin01's review against another edition

Spoiler

So I was not aware that this was number like 23 in a series till I was well into the book. I did some research and it said that these books are meant to be ones where you could start anywhere in the series and wouldn’t miss much but I just still felt like I was missing a lot of context. It was also just boring. There were a lot of European words I didn’t know and there wasn’t much action. He’s a retired spy at this point and so I feel like that’s only appealing to those who have been with him throughout his prime. I got 200 pages in and I still couldn’t get into it. I have a bad habit of finishing books I don’t like and I’m trying to get out of that mindset so I don’t waste my time on books I am not obligated to finish if I don’t want to. So this will be added to a did not finish shelf and I will move onto a book I want to read. There was a lot of interesting parts and I’m sure it would be a good book for those who had read more of the Gabriel Allen books. But there was just a surprisingly small amount of action for a spy book. I did really like the view into the art world and how forgeries can create a lot of scandal and can involve organizations as prestigious as the louvre. I’m sad I couldn’t get into this book. Lesson learned though. Make sure you don’t buy a series. I’m assuming the author was well known enough for people to know that this was part of the series but I really am not familiar with Silva. So my mistake!

hultqur's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25