Not only is this a wonderful sequel to the other Allon books but it is a portrait of a man (Allon) in conflict. Conflict with his handlers, conflict with himself and, as usual, conflict with his enemies. Gabriel is an cold-blooded assassin with a conscience that causes much of the conflict and he sustains another loss in this story that is very similar to another loss earlier in the series. Yes there's action, yes there's intrigue and all the characters you love and hate are back .