The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Unlikely Spy
Book Review: A D-Day Nazi-Allied Forces Espionage Thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Unlikely Spy" is a very good WWII espionage spy thriller. It's long - 725 pages, but rarely does it drag, and most of the time the story is interesting, intriguing, well-crafted, and often compelling. There are only a few instances of a solution to a dilemma faced by one of the characters that is too pat or too contrived (a problem often found in novels such as this). The characters, for the most part, remain true to their personality, training and mission.
Only the two main German spies (Horst and Anna) fall out of their roles glaringly one or two times: one such moment is the unfortunate "street" fight with a local Brit that Horst gets himself into; the other is when Anna begins to doubt herself, her mission, herself, and begins to gain a conscience. These two German spies are clever, well-trained and effective in what they do, and even when they are humanly inconsistent, they are convincing and exceptional. One does not root for them, but one does rather admire them. Anna, in particular, is complex and complicated, a beautiful woman with a somewhat tortured past. But she has been trained to kill and kill she does.
The one American (Peter) is true to his character almost unfailingly, as are the British main characters, especially the very well-drawn likeable Vicary and the more mysterious cad Boothby.
The real-life historical figures, Eisenhower, Churchill and all the usual German demons (like Canaris, Himmler, and Hitler) play big to small roles, as is appropriate for the story, except for the main German background player, Major Vogel who runs Anna, whom he placed in Britain in 1938, 6 years before she was needed by the 3rd Reich to unravel allied plans for D-Day in early 1944.
It's all about D-Day, and this story proved a timely read here in June 2009 during the days leading up to and after the recent 65th anniversary ceremony celebrating the costly but successful Allied invasion of France in 1944. This story revolves around German and Allied hand-wringing over where and when the Allied invasion would occur. Would the Germans discover that it would occur at Normandy --- or as the Allies wanted them to believe - at Calais? That is the entire nexus of the story.
In the end, I liked this book better than (though it is greatly different from) Michael Dobbs' books about Churchill in the same time period (see "Never Surrender"). Silva apparently doesn't have the pressure to try to teach history, except as it is incidentally important to his story. Then he gets it right. But make no mistake: this is fiction - as are all of Dobbs' works.
The plot is complicated (but not too complex), and it is filled with engaging, distinctive characters. I was amazed to find myself on page 500-something, absorbed and engaged in the story. Silva does a reasonably good job writing women, though his forte is men.
I was struck with how this story is an excellent mix of plain old police detective work and subtle ruthless intelligence work. Silva mixes the two very, very well.
I think it is probably about 150 pages too long. What makes it long is Silva's penchant for a great amount of background detail - all interesting, mind you, but nonetheless perhaps not so much is needed to move the story forward. It is also surprisingly "neutral" as to which side holds the cards, brains and skill - with plenty of blunders on both sides.
In the last ½ of the book there is a plenitude of bloody, appalling and mindless killings and murders, as the 2 German spies fight to escape MI-5 and the entire Allied intelligence apparatus bearing down on them after their cover is blown. Once you get over Silva's occasional invented and too-pat circumstantial events that actually help the Brits run down these spies, the story picks up momentum and becomes a page turner. Both sides make countless errors and missteps. Just because you want the Brits to win out, does not imbue them with infallibility.
The book's major flaw, I think, is the somewhat pedestrian and not-very-creative finale or ultimate resolution. I would have hoped that the last 125 pages would live up to the first 600 pages in creativity and cleverness, but they did not. While not exactly disappointing, the conclusion left me wanting something a little better. It is for this reason that I do not give this book a 5 rating.
All-in-all, if you like WWII espionage historical fiction, this book is a great read. It's brutal, realistic, and a fun romp in 1944 England and Germany, great for vicarious re-living (or first-living) of that marvelous time in our history. This is a great book to read on a holiday, on an airplane, or when you are free to indulge 2 or 3 days to escape into the greatest era of old-fashioned espionage -- World War II. This is not the economical, terse beauty that Alan Furst might write (see his "Spies of Warsaw"), but nonetheless it is very, very good. I give it a 4+.
Book Review: A Fascinating World War II EspionageThriller!
Summary: 5 Stars
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,
Book Review: A fine WW II spy thriller
Summary: 4 Stars
This was my introduction to the work of Daniel Silva. I found the book very satisfying. As with any spy thriller, the narrative is filled with enough twists and turns to make you dizzy. The trick of alternating between the "present" and the "history" is carried off smoothly. I thought the multitude of characters, together with the flashbacks, would confuse me badly; it didn't. The progress of the plot was clear, without the mystifying vagueries that LeCarre used so effectively.
The final unveiling of who-was-good-or-evil was a bit of a let-down, but the forward thrust of the narrative throughout was enough to make this a good read.
Book Review: A first rate WWII spy tale
Summary: 4 Stars
There have been hundreds of World War II spy books written, but the author deserves praise for writing a fresh and original work. I have read most of Silva's work and only now have read this, his first book. For a first effort he really shows the talent that he develops in his later Gabriel Allon books. The book is well paced and the characters are well thought out and interesting. The author's knowledge of London is obvious as the streets really come alive. I really felt like I was in World War II London.
His knowledge of Germany is solid, but not of the same level as the spy fiction Master Len Deighton. The plot has many twists and a host of characters that are all intertwined. Silva shows what he is known for, doing his historical homework and then weaving a good tale. You can tell he consulted many experts to give his work an authentic feel. My hunch is that a few are real intelligence folks. If you think you have read all there is about WWII spy fiction, you are missing out until you give this work a shot.
Book Review: A great WWII spy novel
Summary: 5 Stars
Daniel Silva's debut novel is incredible on many fronts. First, for a debut novel, it has incredible depth and substance. It has great characterization and many twists.The novel is set in WWII as Germany tries to find the secret to the D-Day invasion and England tries to keep them from getting that secret. I read one review which said Silva made up facts about the deception and what actually occurred during that time. For me that didn't matter (if that's true) because the true story is about the spies and the chase. The secrets they are peddling are of secondary importance.
The story revolves around Catherine Blake, a German spy in England who is stealing secrets from Peter Jordan, an American helping the British prepare for the invasion. Catherine Blake is a great character who seems to regret what she is doing as a spy but also views it as a game that she is competing to win. At the end of the novel as the authorities close in, Blake becomes a much less of an interesting person, but the setup Silva gives her in the beginning is great.
The man trying to stop the spies is a professor named Alfred Vicary. He is an older man with many regrets yet he is great at what he does. He does a great job of piecing together the info needed to catch the spies.
This novel has many twists and turns and Silva does something many authors don't that I only noticed because he included it. Silva actually includes the scenes of suspicious behavior. So, instead of having Vicary being suspicious of Boothby, his boss, Silva writes a scene of Boothby doing suspicous behavior. This made me wonder what was Boothby actually doing (as were the other characters) instead of just relying on what Vicary thinks.
A great line uttered by Vicary sums up the suspense of the twists and turns of the novel. Vicary is interviewing Peter Jordan, the American architect. After hours of intense questioning, Vicary asks, almost as an afterthought, "You are Peter Jordan, aren't you?" This makes me wonder if one of the most straight foward characters isn't what he seems.
This novel builds up to a great twist at the end and it does a great job of explaining all that went on before it. The twist for me was good, but not the best. I can't wait to read more of Silva's books.