Friday, March 28, 2014

Bond, Gabriel Bond

“‘Remind me to never get on your bad side.’” Truth.

7.14 The English Girl
I think this is the 13th book in the Gabriel Allon series, and I have read every one.  I know the characters from descriptions without needing names; I know where they have friend and where they have enemies.  I know that they fight the good fight against very bad guys, and I know that they basically do it the same way every time.  The Allon books are familiar and familiar is good, but sometimes familiar needs a bit of shaking.

As I started The English Girl I was a bit shocked to see things take a bit of a different route.  This is not the typical case that Allon is used for, and he goes it somewhat alone (even getting his hands dirty with an ex-foe).  And I liked that.  I liked him doing the actual work without having everything he needs at his fingertips, it was good to see why he is known for being so good at what he does, but I also wondered why he was doing it. Why did he care?  And when the plot takes a supposed shift – along with reverting back to the tried and true plot structure of books past – I still didn’t get why he would care.  Why would any of them really care?  I still don’t really get it. 

But what I do know is that seeing Allon in new circumstances was exciting, much more exciting than seeing him do again what he has always done before.  I mean, after a while we all know he is going to do it every time right?  Where’s the fun in that?

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