Lawrence Block's "Hitman," Barry Eisler's "Rain" series, and now Daniel Silva's Israeli assassin/art restorer. Assassins with angst. Are we looking at a trend here?

Silva has eight published novels. Five deal with his Israeli protagonist, Gabriel Allon, a chameleon who moves confidently through Venice society, English landscapes, French territory, anywhere he is needed in the service of Israel.

But with reluctance. He continues to do his "duty," although haunted by the past, Allon emerges as a strong anti-hero in the International espionage genre.

Prince of Fire is his latest in the series. I recommend starting with the books in the order they were written: The English Assassin, The Kill Artist, The Confessor and A Death In Venice.

Assassins not your thing? How do you feel about history? Current events? These novels touch on topics such as the confiscation of art from the Jews by the Nazis. An attempt to assassinate the Pope. A terrorist intent on destroying a Palestinian peace mission. You cannot help but expand your knowledge and perceptions of the art world and the political arena while reading these incredible works.

Warning: these books are exhausting. There is so much information, a high level of prose and an emotional drain between the covers of these novels that they should be spaced with a lighter read.