The Order: A Novel (Gabriel Allon, 20)

Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of July 2020: Israeli spy Gabriel Allon is back in a new thriller involving the murder of a pope, dark secrets within the Vatican, and a conspiracy that could change the shape of the religious and political world. Allon’s relaxing family vacation in Italy is interrupted when he gets a call from a dear friend, Pope Paul VII’s private secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati, who needs Allon’s help to prove that the Holy Father did not die of natural causes. Just before his death, Pope Paul VII made a remarkable discovery deep within the Secret Archives of the Vatican library: a book of gospels that would confound centuries-old beliefs about the death of Christ and heal the rift between Christianity and Judaism. But a corrupt secret society within the Vatican—the Order of St. Helena—will do anything to keep that book from coming to light. In fact, the Order has very specific plans for the papacy, and is extremely well-funded by a source with ties to the church that began in World War II. The Order dives deep into the history of the Catholic church and the corruption within its most lauded ranks, while giving readers a fast-paced, twisty novel that keeps us guessing from beginning to end. —Seira Wilson, Amazon Book Review
#1 New York Times Bestseller • #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller
From Daniel Silva, the internationally acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author, comes a riveting new thriller featuring art restorer and legendary spy Gabriel Allon.
It was nearly one a.m. by the time he crawled into bed. Chiara was reading a novel, oblivious to the television, which was muted. On the screen was a live shot of St. Peter’s Basilica. Gabriel raised the volume and learned that an old friend had died …
Gabriel Allon has slipped quietly into Venice for a much-needed holiday with his wife and two young children. But when Pope Paul VII dies suddenly, Gabriel is summoned to Rome by the Holy Father’s loyal private secretary, Archbishop Luigi Donati. A billion Catholic faithful have been told that the pope died of a heart attack. Donati, however, has two good reasons to suspect his master was murdered. The Swiss Guard who was standing watch outside the papal apartments the night of the pope’s death is missing. So, too, is the letter the Holy Father was writing during the final hours of his life. A letter that was addressed to Gabriel.
While researching in the Vatican Secret Archives, I came upon a most remarkable book …
The book is a long-suppressed gospel that calls into question the accuracy of the New Testament’s depiction of one of the most portentous events in human history. For that reason alone, the Order of St. Helena will stop at nothing to keep it out of Gabriel’s hands. A shadowy Catholic society with ties to the European far right, the Order is plotting to seize control of the papacy. And it is only the beginning.
As the cardinals gather in Rome for the start of the conclave, Gabriel sets out on a desperate search for proof of the Order’s conspiracy, and for a long-lost gospel with the power to put an end to two thousand years of murderous hatred. His quest will take him from the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, to a monastery in Assisi, to the hidden depths of the Secret Archives, and finally to the Sistine Chapel, where he will witness an event no outsider has ever before seen—the sacred passing of the Keys of St. Peter to a newly elected pope.
Swiftly paced and elegantly rendered, The Order will hold readers spellbound, from its opening passages to its breathtaking final twist of plot. It is a novel of friendship and faith in a perilous and uncertain world. And it is still more proof that Daniel Silva is his generation’s finest writer of suspense and international intrigue.