Eerily, Allon's antagonist here is ISIS and an imaginary operations chief nicknamed Saladin. Although Gabriel is one day removed from taking over the Office, he is called back into the field when the French request his help in avenging an attack in Paris. His op is based on recruiting a French-Israeli doctor, who speaks perfect Arabic, as an undercover infiltrator. She is trained by Allon and his team and placed in a clinic in a banlieue in Paris, where an ISIS recruiter signs her up. On an excursion to Syria, she is called in to save Saladin's life after he is caught in an air attack. She is then recruited and sent to Washington, DC to be part of an attack intended to incur American wrath. ISIS pretty much blows up half of Washington, the Israelis get out of town after exacting a degree of revenge and finally, finally, Gabriel is ensconced in the top job at King Saul Boulevard.
Through sixteen books, the chronicler of the mythical Allon takes appropriately pro-Israeli positions,\ that I've always been comfortable with. In this one, though, he articulates some very strong anti-Administration opinions, trashes the Iranian nuclear deal, belittles our foreign policy in general and wishes we were back in the Middle East with boots on the ground. I found it a bit unsettling.
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