A review by varreguin01
Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Daniel Silva

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!