Book Review: Fallen Angel

    Hello, everyone. Thanks for stopping by the green retreat. I have been reading an excellent novel by Daniel Silva titled The Fallen Angel. This is yet another in Silva's series of books about Gabriel Allon. Gabriel is a sometimes-retired Israeli spy. He has ties to the Mossad but prefers to work on paintings, restoring priceless works by the old masters. His skills in both fields has endeared him to certain people in the Vatican. People who are at the very top levels of this city-state.
    As our story opens, Gabriel is restoring a painting at the Vatican. One night a lady falls to her death not far from where he is working. The Pope and his personal assistant ask Gabriel to investigate her death. It soon becomes apparent that she was murdered. As he delves into the circumstances, he stumbles upon a ring of art thieves and people who deal in the illegal sale of art. These people are not concerned with the expectations of honest dealers in a legal provenence for a work, merely in the money to be made. So ruthless are they that murder is a quite acceptable option in covering up their work, even if it happens in the Vatican itself.
     As Gabriel keeps pulling on the string, the plot unravels and thickens. The art criminals are tied in with a terrorist group who are using the money from art sales to fund plots against many nations. This leads Gabriel into coming out of retirement and working with his old friends in the Mossad. A bomb goes off in St. Moritz, terrorists are killed within sight of a church in Berlin and still the action has not peaked. It is only after Gabriel becomes the Pope's personal bodyguard that all things become clear.
     In a nail-biter of an ending, in Jerusalem, during a Papal visit, Gabriel finds out that even the Pope's life is not the ultimate target of his enemies.
     This book is a terrific read. Crafted by one of the best of his genre, and his generation, this is a book which I would rate as a 4.5 stars out of 5. Good stuff.
     From the reader's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

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Shadowgun: Crushing The Driller On Level 4

Hey, everyone. Let's talk about the game called Shadowgun, the I-Pad game with which I have a love-hate relationship. Most of you who made it past the evil Cyber Lobster are doubtless locked in a death struggle with the Driller at the end of level 4. At this point you have been in the cave for a long time. The Driller breaks through the rock wall and chases you through the tunnel as you try to shoot out the green lights which slows the Driller down. If you are slick enough to shoot out all the lights and emerge from the cave, a rolling door crashes on the Driller and crushes his aggravating carcass. I have tried and failed to beat the Driller at least 250 times. I hate the Driller to the heights and depths my soul can reach. I hate it like a plague. I hate it with intensity of feeling. I hate it like a rich man hates taxes. Excuse me, I got carried away. We had a big dinner here at the green retreat and my friend Trevor was ...

You're Aiming the Missile Where?

Hey, everyone, out there in game-land. The number 1 game on the friendly neighborhood app store is Call of Duty: Strike Team . No wonder, because it is a terrific game. The farther I play, the cooler it gets. But before I get to that, what are all these numbers indicating on my gun? Has to be some sort of ammo indicator for the clips, I guess. either that or some of my compadres has trouble doing his math homework. Whatever. Hey. Check out the picture of me hitching a ride on an enemy truck so that my team can infiltrate a missile silo. Do you like the face mask? I bought it at a store called Fashions by Bane. Ha, ha. (Batman Reference) On this mission, my team was assisted by a Russian Spetsnaz squad. How's that for detente, comrade? These Spetsnaz guys make everything fun. What I mean is this. We shoot bunches of enemies and get into the bowels of the silo. We get to the gantry where the missile is (Pictured above) and we see that the rad...

Shadowgun: Killing The Windbreaker

Hey, everyone. I thought it might be a good time for a bit of an update on the riveting game called Shadowgun. Consider this your spoiler alert and tune out if you want to. Once you get past the dreaded Driller, things get better but you are certainly not out of the woods. You will want to make sure you keep a full clip in your gun as you stroll through the realm of the evil and crazy Dr. Simon. But hey, you're John Slade, the Shadowgun, and wherever you set your foot is the place to which your authority extends. I love the way that some of the barriers disintegrate under the impact of bullets. I didn't learn this at my mother's knee but I darn sure know it now. I have learned that there are certain places it is good to plan on using the rocket launcher. Keep your stock of those filled. There are these transporter guys who are aggressive punks. The only way they respect you is if you kill them, so that's the way I roll. As...

CE Wills

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