Daniel Silva: The Confessor (UK 2004)

From the Publisher:
Art restorer Gabriel Allon is trying to put his secret service past behind him. But when his friend Benjamin Stern is murdered in Munich, he's called into action once more.

Police in Germany are certain that Stern, a professor well known for his work on the Holocaust, was killed by right-wing extremists. But Allon is far from convinced. Not least because all trace of the new book Stern was researching has now mysteriously disappeared...

Meanwhile, in Rome, the new Pope paces around his garden, thinking about the perilous plan he's about to set in motion. If successful, he will revolutionize the Church. If not. he could very well destroy it...

In the dramatic weeks to come, the journeys of these two men will intersect. Long-buried secrets and unthinkable deeds will come to light and both their lives will be changed for ever...

Daniel Silva: The Confessor. An unholy secret. A new deadly sin. Penguin, ISBN: 014101587X (April, 2004), 401 p., £6.99.

Daniel Silva: The Confessor (USA 2004)

From the Publisher:
Dark secrets are revealed in Vatican City in this Gabriel Allon thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva.
In Munich, a Jewish scholar is assassinated. In Venice, Mossad agent and art restorer Gabriel Allon receives the news, puts down his brushes, and leaves immediately. And at the Vatican, the new pope vows to uncover the truth about the church's response to the Holocaust -- while a powerful cardinal plots his next move.

Now, as Allon follows a trail of secrets and unthinkable deeds, the lives of millions are changed forever -- and the life of one man becomes expendable...

Daniel Silva: The Confessor. Signet, ISBN: 0451211480 (February, 2004), 470 p., $9.99.

Daniel Silva: The Confessor (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
Munich: The writer Benjamin Stern entered his flat to see a man standing there, leafing through his research, and said, "Who the hell are you?" In response, the man shot him. As Stern lay dying, the gunman murmured a few words in Latin, then he gathered the writer's papers and left.

Venice: The art restorer Gabriel Allon applied a dab of paint carefully to the Bellini, then read the message thrust into his hands. Stern was dead; could he leave right away? With a sigh, the Mossad agent began to put his brushes away.

The Vatican: The priest named Pietro paced in the garden, thinking about the things he had discovered, the enemies he would make, the journey before him. Men would surely die, and he wished another could take it for him. But he knew that was not possible. In the weeks to come, the journeys of all three men will come together, following a trail of long-buried secrets and unthinkable deeds, leaving each one forever changed. And with them, the lives of millions...

Filled with rich characters, remarkable prose, and a multilayered plot of uncommon intensity, this is the finest work yet by a new master of the art.

Daniel Silva: The Confessor. A Novel. Putnam's, ISBN: 0399149724 (February, 2003), 401 p., $25.95.