Yes, this too is a title in an ongoing series. I find that I really enjoy book series, I get to live in the world of new friends and foes for a long time and I like that. Each book takes me deeper into their lives, you feel invested as if these characters are people you walk through life with. It is also why I love books in general, new worlds, different experiences, learning new facts, expanding my view, and giving me insight I am able to ponder and accept or discard at will.
So, The English Spy is number 15 in the international thriller series starring Gabriel Allon. Allon is a gifted art restorer, artist, and former secret operative for Israeli intelligence. His past is rich in historic events that have brought joy and misery,with lots of conflict of both the physical and mental kind. When I pick up a Gabriel Allon novel, I know I will get a fast moving story filled with complex characters that are drawn more fully with each story. I will learn about different countries and their complicated political and geographical histories and how these histories play into the very real human rights and political disarray of these places in present day. I have my atlas at the ready to visualize the places Allon visits and works in. I want to walk the streets Mr. Silva describes in rich detail, I look up the priceless art Allon works on and with and long to see it in its present place of rest.
In The English Spy, Allon is once again drawn reluctantly into the politics of the world because the people still playing games with countries like a living, decades long game of chess have often crossed the path of Allon, his country, or someone he loves. The incident that sparks his return to espionage this time is an account of a former English princess murdered in dramatic fashion. This princess is drawn in similar lines of the famous real former princess of the British empire and this gives the book an earnest and frightening reality within the first pages that draw the reader in. When I read this sequence of events, I thought I knew where Mr. Silva was going and while I didn’t know how he was going to get there, I was sure I knew where ‘there’ was. I was so wrong. This book has more twists and turns, which when I think about it, are classic tools in Mr. Silva’s writing of Gabriel Allon. The magic is that even 15 books in, I forget that explosive plot twists are common and I don’t even see it coming. I am shocked, thrilled, and flabbergasted when it happens in The English Spy, just as I was when it first happened in The Kill Artist (the first Gabriel Allon thriller)! Somehow, this story also takes us on a very cool history lesson of Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland along with the various players from a number of countries that were heavily invested in the outcome of this civil war. The very harsh reality of citizen against citizen in many parts of the world comes alive here and we get to make our own decisions about the consequences of interference and how decisions in these situations is hardly ever a clear cut case of right versus wrong. I often find myself researching the real events fictionalized by Mr. Silva to the joy of my inner student and I think writing that opens up inquisitiveness in us is fantastic. Mr. Silva also sprinkles numerous ideas that personalize the story, you can see yourself or your community in a similar situation, yet these ideas never take away from the pressing circumstances of the narrative. My favorite of this book was found on page 344. It says, “Later the neighborhood would go to great lengths to save the tree, but to no avail.” I could see the heart in that sentence, the way bad things happen and no matter how we try to shore ourselves up, sometimes it just isn’t possible. A sentence about a tree, people, but really about so much more.
Unfortunately, this is not a series in which I suggest you start at book 15. Hopefully this review makes you want to start at book 1. Each book in the series reveals more of Allon’s history, motivation, and personality. They are completely interlocking, where characters continually show up and evolve. Many key players in this adventure were introduced earlier and the actions taken in The English Spy are directly linked to previous decisions taken by the characters in earlier books. This iteration is dependent on a lot of history told in previous books, so many of the why may get lost without context or even knowing the whole story. The English Spy continues the exciting life story of Gabriel Allon with lots of interlocking revelations that are exciting news for those of us following Allon’s life in these perilous times. If you enjoy a great thriller, with enough realism to make you say, “Hmm?”, you will love The English Spy. If this is the first time you have ever heard of Gabriel Allon, do yourself an awesome favor and start at the beginning. Enjoy!