The English Spy

Artistic Assassin

Daniel Silva’s first Gabriel Allon book, The Kill Artist came out in 2000. Since then the Israeli secret service expert appears in a new book every summer.

While he has been at it--- protecting his small homeland from constant attacks-- the world has changed, particularly post 9/11; Silva has picked current affairs and included them in his books, sometimes predicting events before they happened.

Allon is the most unusual assassin—he was plucked out of art school by his mentor and father figure, Ari Shamron to join a crack team and avenge the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. When he returned, he had aged much beyond his years and also become almost indestructible, although he came close to death several times.

Over 17 books, Allon completed many successful missions, but when is not at work for Israel, he is the world’s best art restorer, and many of Silva’s books are set against an art background (the connection of art thefts to money laundering and terrorism has been detailed in earlier books). Not the latest though—The English Spy is about tracking an Irish bomb maker with links to terrorist organizations around the world. Silva has no qualms in naming Iran and Russia as enemy countries, along with Libya, Syria, Aghanistan; it’s only a matter of time before an Allon novel is set in Pakistan.

In this book, Allon is about to be a father of twins and also take over “The Office," Israel’s intelligence organization. He is lured out of temporary inactivity by the murder of a British princess (resemblance to Diana purely co-incidental), carried out by Eamon Quinn, the mercenary bomb-maker with an IRA past, who is now a loose canon.

Allon heads to Corsica to pull his friend Don Orsati’s best hitman, the reportedly dead Christopher Keller, back to the world of the living. Together they go after Quinn, even though initially they are played like puppets by their prey. Madeline Hart, The English Girl of an earlierbook makes an appearance, as Quinn kidnaps her to lure Allon and Keller out into the open, when Allon fakes his own death, which nobody really believes.

The two, with the blessings of UK’s MI6 Chief Graham Seymour, travel all over the world in pursuit of Quinn, ending up in the mean streets of rural Ireland. For both this is personal and involved women they loved.

The English Spy is an action-packed page-turner, with short emotional breaks to take in family, friends, past sorrows, like Allon’s first wife Leah living in a tragic twilight state in an asylum after a bomb (made by Quinn) killed her child and wounded her badly. Allon’s visits to her are always the gentler parts of the violent narrative, while his current wife Chiara provides the romantic diversion.

Silva’s books are not just enjoyable, they are also well-researched and full of facts ripped from headlines. You can’t help feel that with Allon watching over the world, it is a much safer place.

The English Spy

By Daniel Silva

Publisher by Harper Collins

Pages: 475