The Order by Daniel Silva *****

Missing Gospels, two millennia of conspiracies, Vatican mysteries, secret Catholic societies… These might remind you of The DaVinci Code, but this review is about The Order, Daniel Silva’s 20^th novel with super-spy Gabriel Allon, now “director-general of the Israeli intelligence service.” In this installment, the Pope is murdered and The Order is set to install their choice as his successor. With the help of much technical magic, Gabriel foils the plot (not really a spoiler).

While I compared this to The DaVinci Code, these two books are quite different in one respect. As Daniel Silva explains in a ten-page Author’s Note, this book is a serious exploration of Catholic anti-Semitism beginning with the early church and Matthew 27:25 which has the Jews saying, “His blood be upon us and on our children,” to Pope Innocent III in the 13^th century who endorsed, “The blood of Jesus falls not only on the Jews of that time, but on all generations of Jews up to the end of the world,” and finally to the Vatican support for 20^th century Nazis. The Note makes clear that the novel is fiction, but the research behind it is not. With sections that refer directly to 2020 politics and current events (“How about a global pandemic?”), the book is a cautionary tale to all who might be sitting out the current political trends.

The book includes much art, food, and fashion.

The hackers from the Israeli Unit 8200 can do anything starting with a cell phone number. Track you. Read all your mail and text, both in the past and in real-time. Control communication networks and security systems, unlock doors, shut down the power, and whatever else might be convenient. However, Gabriel does go old-school once by picking a lock with “A thin metal tool from the pocket of his borrowed clerical suit.”

Also de rigueur for the genre, the book is sprinkled with clever dialogue.

“We’re good, Bishop Richter. But not that good.”
“May I offer you a piece of advice?”
“Of course, Excellency.”
“Get better. And quickly.”

“Why are you interested in the Order?”
“They murdered a friend of mine.”
“Who’s the friend?”
“His Holiness Pope Paul the Seventh.”

Typo? The book is split between feet and meters. I’m guessing the chaotic swinging back and forth is something that can be blamed on the editors who might have been rushed as the book released in July with news stories from merely three months earlier. “His apartment was three thousand square meters.” This translates to 30,000 square feet, too large for an apartment. Kanye West’s $20 million house is 8,000 square feet. The Presidential Suite at the Bellagio in Las Vegas is 4,000 square feet. Most family homes are 2-4,000 square feet.

A fast-moving thriller of liberal heroes against an evil right-wing conspiracy.

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