Black Widow by Daniel Silva (2016)

Silva continues to draw me in. This time Gabriel Allon plays less of a role, but instead he sends a woman to infiltrate a terrorist group after an ISIS bombing kills a friend, who once helped Allon out by lending a rare painting. The mysterious leader they are targeting is called Saladin, after a 12th century Muslim warrior. (This name is also used in I am Pilgrim, a book I am reading now.) Natalie Mizrahi pretends to be a black widow - someone who has lost her husband/boyfriend in the recent violence and is ready to give up her own life for the cause. She is Jewish, but knows Arabic and is trained by Allon's people to think like a terrorist and is taken in for training in a terrorist camp. Natalie is a doctor and ends up saving the life of Saladin- her training won't let her do otherwise. The whole experience is quite harrowing and leads to Washington DC. I hope she becomes a regular operative as Allon takes over the helm of Israeli intelligence. (Read in 2016)