Daniel Silva is one of my favourite authors, so the change in tone and style of this book was very disappointing. I was expecting a spy thriller and instead ended up with a locked room mystery with some Dan Brown conspiracy thrown in. And the mystical element was just a bizarre twist for a Gabriel Allon novel. It’s hard to say whether I would have enjoyed the book more if it WASN’T a Gabriel Allon novel - probably not. I am always uneasy when fiction writers extrapolate on Christianity, quoting biblical scholars while at the same time calling their book a work of fiction. I was looking for a serious, but entertaining read, and this did not hit the mark for me.