The Unlikely Spy [Hardcover]

Daniel Silva (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 24, 1996

Catherine Blake is the model war widow. Ever since she lost her RAF pilot husband in the Battle of Britain, this beautiful aristocrat has kept a stiff upper lip while caring for victims of the blitz in London's hospitals. The problem is that Catherine Blake is also a deep-cover Nazi spy, charged by Hitler with uncovering the details of D-Day.

Her nemesis is Alfred Vicary, a fumbling professor of history barely able to remember where he placed his threadbare tweed jacket, let alone sustain a relationship. But Vicary is also a confidant of Winston Churchill's, who has chosen this reclusive don to run England's critical counterintelligence operations.

Against this backdrop comes Daniel Silva's The Unlikely Spy, a sophisticated and altogether exceptional World War II thriller. Based on fact, Silva's fast-paced novel moves effortlessly from the Berlin High Command's espionage centers to the U-boat-infested North Sea, from the privileged playgrounds of Long Island to Hyde Park's shadowy paths -- a grand canvas of intrigue that sweeps the reader along in a breathtaking race against time. If Catherine escapes to Germany, the Nazis will know the Allied invasion will be at Normandy; and if Vicary doesn't stop her, all of Britain's greatest wartime deceptions and ploys will have been for naught.

But why does it seem as if Vicary's superiors want him to fail?

For lovers of Jack Higgins, Frederick Forsyth, and Len Deighton, The Unlikely Spy is a masterpiece of war and deception, a wholly original and spellbinding tale of the Allies' finest hour.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this debut novel, veteran journalist Silva mines the reliable territory of World War II espionage to produce a gripping, historically detailed thriller. In early 1944 the Allies were preparing their invasion of Normandy; critical to the invasion's success was an elaborate set of deceptions--from phony radio signals to bogus airfields and barracks--intended to keep Hitler in the dark about when and where the Allied troops would arrive. Catherine Blake is the beautiful, ruthless spy who could bring the whole charade crashing down; Alfred Vicary is the brilliant but bumbling professor Churchill has tapped to protect the operation. Along with a teeming cast of other characters, real and fictional, they bring the chase to a furious and satisfying climax.

From Publishers Weekly

Will Nazi spies escape from Britain with Allied plans for the imminent invasion of Normandy? As history tells us, obviously not?so the challenge for veteran journalist and CNN producer Silva in his first novel is to brew up enough intrigue and tension to make readers forget the obvious. While Silva employs multiple characters and settings, his key players are an English counterintelligence officer and a beautiful Nazi spy. Alfred Vicary is an academic recruited to work for MI5. The intelligence reports he fabricates and sends to Germany are designed to persuade the Nazis that their utterly compromised spy network, the Abwehr, is still fully operational. MI5 learns, however, that the Abwehr has been keeping a few sleeper operatives under deep cover throughout the war. Now they pose a serious threat to the invasion plans. One of these operatives is Catherine Blake, a ruthless assassin and spy. Her assignment is to become romantically involved with Peter Jordan, an American engineer working on a top-secret D-Day project. Will Vicary be able to stop her? Silva's characters are strong; but, despite occasional bursts of high suspense and a body count to remember, his overall pacing is uneven, and most readers won't forget that D-Day succeeded. The final plot twist, moreover, while unpredictable, seems more logical than shocking. Silva's debut will find an audience among devoted readers of WWII thrillers, and deservedly so, but he's not yet on a par with such masters of the genre as Ken Follett, Robert Harris and Jack Higgins. 150,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo; BOMC alternate selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection; simultaneous BDD audio; foreign rights to 16 countries; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 481 pages
• Publisher: Villard (December 24, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679455620
• ISBN-13: 978-0679455622
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (140 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

He has been called his generation's finest writer of international intrigue and one of the greatest American spy novelists ever. Compelling, passionate, haunting, brilliant: these are the words that have been used to describe the work of #1 New York Times-bestselling author Daniel Silva.

Silva burst onto the scene in 1997 with his electrifying bestselling debut, The Unlikely Spy, a novel of love and deception set around the Allied invasion of France in World War II. His second and third novels, The Mark of the Assassin and The Marching Season, were also instant New York Times bestsellers and starred two of Silva's most memorable characters: CIA officer Michael Osbourne and international hit man Jean-Paul Delaroche. But it was Silva's fourth novel, The Kill Artist, which would alter the course of his career. The novel featured a character described as one of the most memorable and compelling in contemporary fiction, the art restorer and sometime Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon, and though Silva did not realize it at the time, Gabriel's adventures had only just begun. Gabriel Allon appears in Silva's next nine novels, each one more successful than the last: The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, and Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, and The Defector. Silva's forthcoming novel, The Rembrandt Affair, will be published on July 20, 2010.

Silva knew from a very early age that he wanted to become a writer, but his first profession would be journalism. Born in Michigan, raised and educated in California, he was pursuing a master's degree in international relations when he received a temporary job offer from United Press International to help cover the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. Later that year Silva abandoned his studies and joined UPI fulltime, working first in San Francisco, then on the foreign desk in Washington, and finally as Middle East correspondent in Cairo and the Persian Gulf. In 1987, while covering the Iran-Iraq war, he met NBC Today National Correspondent Jamie Gangel and they were married later that year. Silva returned to Washington and went to work for CNN and became Executive Producer of its talk show unit including shows like Crossfire, Capital Gang and Reliable Sources.

In 1995 he confessed to Jamie that his true ambition was to be a novelist. With her support and encouragement he secretly began work on the manuscript that would eventually become the instant bestseller The Unlikely Spy. He left CNN in 1997 after the book's successful publication and began writing full time. Since then all of Silva's books have been New York Times and international bestsellers. His books have been translated in to more than 25 languages and are published around the world. Silva continues to reside in Washington with his wife and teenage twins Lily and Nicholas. When not writing he can usually be found roaming the stacks of the Georgetown University library, where he does much of the research for his books. He is currently at work on a new Gabriel Allon novel and warmly thanks all those friends and loyal readers who have helped to make the series such an amazing success.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

102 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An "Eye of the Needle" clone - and a good one, January 7, 2001

By 

William Sugarman "nprfan1" (Great Neck, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unlikely Spy (Mass Market Paperback)

There are definite elements of Ken Follett's "Eye of the Needle" in Daniel Silva's "The Unlikely Spy". The most obvious is that Follett's bumbling spy was named Godliman, Silva's is named Vicary. But there are differences too - and those differences make Silva's book better than Follett's.

Most of the novels of this type follow a formula - Nazi spy, planted in England, uncovers the real facts about the Normandy invasion, and the brave, muddle-headed British intelligence officer must stop the spy before s/he gives it all away. Silva's novel follows this formula fairly well, but there's a very well-written story surrounding it.

Silva's plot is extremely detailed, and there are puzzles within puzzles, and plots within plots. Alfred Vicary is the proverbial (and in some cases literal) absent-minded professor, who shows a surprising streak of ruthlessness when it really matters; Catherine Blake is the Third Reich's ultimate weapon, who would rather not do what she's been doing for the last five years, but has no choice in the matter. These are the two main characters in a very well-done WWII spy novel.

This is Silva's first novel, and if it's any indication of things to come, he has a glorious career ahead of him. I do hope he doesn't restrict himself to this genre, though - if he does his books will grow very stale very fast.

71 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Captures the Essence of Wheels within Wheels, October 22, 2001

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unlikely Spy (Mass Market Paperback)

Together with "Enigma" and "The Black Tulip" by Milt Bearden, and of course the George Smiley series by John Le Carre, this is one of my few really recommended fictional accounts related to espionage.

The art of lying to one's own people, at multiple levels of duplicity, some venal, much of it unnecessary, has helped to mystify, confuse, and sometimes glorify the intelligence profession.

As an intelligence professional myself, I will simply say that this is one of my top six and that it would not be called fiction if it did not depart for the pure realities as much as it does. This book captures the "essence" of duplicity within government in a time of war, and I find the whole book absolutely captivating and worthwhile.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating World War II EspionageThriller!, August 12, 2003

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Unlikely Spy (Mass Market Paperback)

Daniel Silva's "The Unlikely Spy" has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. This spine-tingling, historical espionage thriller is set in London, Germany and the US during World War II. The plot, and complex subplots, go back and forth in time and place, from the mid-1930s to the period before the invasion of Europe. Thus the scenario is set, and the novel's various characters are brought to life. These are the people who are involved in the Allies' invasion plans, and the Germans who plot to discover the top-secret information, and thwart the invasion. Many of the details and historical figures are accurately depicted, and realistically fleshed-out by Mr. Silva. Churchill, Hitler, Schellenberg, Himmler, Canaris and Eisenhower all have important roles in this action packed adventure - and their personas are fascinating.

Alfred Vicary is a primary character, and much of the story revolves around him. He is a brilliant professor and a noted historian, who was befriended by Churchill in 1935. At that time Churchill was warning Britain and Europe of the Nazi threat, but to no avail. The predominant political pundits of the day believed that Hitler, and Nazi Germany, were a good counterbalance to Stalin and the Soviet Union. Vicary wrote to Churchill, after hearing him lecture, to tell him that he agreed with his assessments. Churchill invited Vicary to his home, Chartwell, and they became close political confidants. In 1939 England's Prime Minister summoned Professor Vicary to his home, once again, to ask him to take a job in Military Intelligence for the duration of the war. Churchill tells the professor, "I need someone I can trust inside that department. It's time to put the 'intelligence' back in Military Intelligence."

Catherine Blake, the novel's other primary figure, is half English and half German. Since her mother's death, when she was a child, Catherine was raised by her father in Germany. She is beautiful, intelligent and a sociopath. She was targeted early by German Intelligence, five years before the war, to be trained as a special secret agent - a sleeper. Her German controller knew everything about her, including traumatic events of her adolescence, and was a genius at manipulating her. He threatened her with her father's possible imprisonment, torture and death if she did not succeed in her mission. And her mission was to secretly enter Britain, adopt an English identity, live in London, and wait until she would be activated. She was expected to discover and transmit the key information of the Normandy invasion to her German masters.

This is a real page turner. Until the novel's conclusion, the reader is never sure who is the enemy, the secret agent - who is working for whom? Silva is an excellent writer. His fast paced narrative flows, and his characters are very well developed. I have read most of his books, and this is one of the best,