The English Girl

Daniel Silva delivers another spectacular thriller starring Gabriel Allon, The English Girl. When a beautiful young British woman vanishes on the island of Corsica, a prime minister’s career is threatened with destruction. Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, is thrust into a game of shadows where nothing is what it seems...and where the only thing more dangerous than his enemies might be the truth…

Silva’s work has captured the imagination of millions worldwide; his #1 New York Times bestselling series which chronicles the adventures of art-restorer and master spy Gabriel Allon has earned the praise of readers and reviewers everywhere. This captivating new page-turner from the undisputed master of spy fiction is sure to thrill new and old fans alike.

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, July 2013: The setup: A beautiful woman is snatched from her vacation on Corsica. A ransom note reaches 10 Downing Street. An ambitious, unfaithful prime minister seriously needs a fixer. Which leads his fixers to art restorer and Israeli spy, Gabriel Allon, one of the more believable and likable heroes in recent spy fiction. To call The English Girl a page turner is an oversimplification. Smart, unpredictable, and packed with bits of history, art, heart, and imagination, this is a page turner to be savored. Let me just say that I like John LeCarre. Big fan. Still impressively relevant and prolific into his 80s. But the torch must pass to someone. And it’s been a while since I grabbed anyone by the lapels and said, “Read this now,” so let me strongly suggest that you take The English Girl to the beach, or wherever summer may take you. Daniel Silva isn’t quite LeCarre. He’s a more modern breed, with some major DNA overlap. (Other DNA-sharing: Graham Greene, Joseph Kanon, Alan Furst.) When it comes to the vast club of practitioners of international spycraft, Silva is a cut above them all, and The English Girl is a masterwork. --Neal Thompson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The psychology of kidnapping and blackmail forms the core of Silva’s sixteenth spy story, an extended, scary chess game between two opponents, with the fates of both a young woman and the British government at stake. Series hero Gabriel Allon, who has worked for the Israeli intelligence as a spy and avenging angel (starting with Operation Wrath of God against the Black September terrorists), is convinced by a longtime British MI5 friend to help out the current prime minster. The woman with whom the married PM has been having an affair, herself a rising star in the government, has been kidnapped while on vacation on the island of Corsica. Her kidnappers send the PM a video of the woman admitting to the affair, sure to bring scandal and ruin if widely released. Finding the woman involves much guesswork and danger, with trips to locales ranging from the south of France to Paris to London to Moscow. As usual, Silva takes the reader hostage from page one with his canny mix of spy craft and suspense. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Silva’s ongoing ability to combine le Carré–like texture with high-energy plotting has produced a string of commercial and critical successes. Chalk up another one. --Connie Fletcher --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.