It goes sort of backward in time from Rome to Jerusalem," said Daniel Silva.

[2] The first part of the book is set in Italy as Allon helps the Pope's private secretary, Monsignor Luigi Donati, with a case that is troubling The Vatican.

[3] Silva includes episodes exploring the traffic in looted antiquities and the history and meaning of the Temple Mount to all three Abrahamic religions.

[4] It was longlisted for the 2013 IMPAC award, and like others in Silva's Allon series, The Fallen Angel was a New York Times bestseller rising to #1 on the hardcover fiction list in August 2012.

[5][6] Zarine Khan was considered for Chimera, a planned movie adaptation of the book,[7] however it did not proceed.