Rating: 
Summary: Great WWII espionage thriller
Review: This is Daniel Silva's first novel and a sure winner. A WWII thriller about Hitler's super spy who can bring down the entire Allied invasion. Great historical thriller. Daniel Silva does a terrific job with his characters and the description of life back then.
Rating: 
Summary: An Unlikely Hero
Review: I am an avid Daniel Silva fan, but my experience has been with the Gabriel Allon series. I picked up the Unlikely Spy over the D-Day weekend, and was engrossed by Silva's ability to draw me back 60 years. The story revolves around Alfred Vicary, a history professor cum intelligence operative who is drawn into tracking down a German spy and accomplices who is attempting to ascertain the pending invasion plans of France by the Allies. What ensues is a classic spy story that held me captive to the last page. I heartily recommend it for fans of early Greg Iles.
Rating:
Summary: A great WWII spy novel
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: This novel about WWII spying, mainly the German attempts to
penetrate British secrets relating to the coming invasion of
Europe, is superb. The writing is first-class, and the plot
moves along at speed at all times, and the characters on all
sides are entertaining and plausible.
There are sub-plots, and there are numberous characters in this
story, but, unlike many such attempts, all these characters are
fascinating, and when the story switches from one scenerio to
another, the readers' interests continue unabated. The plot
and sub-plots are complex enough, and properly entertaining,
that the reader with proper interest will find this very difficult to put down to be picked up and resumed later.
The story involves English professors who leave their quiet
world of contemplation and study to go into a world of intrigue,
lies, disinformation and danger, all while being all-to-aware
of the passage of precious time that could spell the end of their civilization. Hitler and the Nazis occupy most of Europe,
and they still have hopes of dominating the world at that time
and for many years to come.
We get to meet some of the fascinating characters of that period, such as Churchill, Hitler, Himmler, Schellenberg, and
Canaris; there is nothing new about these people, but the author has his facts down, and he works in known and interesting
aspects of these people, all the while spinning out his interesting tale of the people engaged in the highest level of
spying, all for the highest possible stakes.
The focus of his story is the ordinariness of all the participants, who all work harder, and achieve more, than they
would have thought possible. War is hell, yes, but it can also
be stimulating and bring out the best in people. Just as it
can bring out the worst.
And this author, in this story, has several such stories, and
they are all interesting and worth reading. Plus, these people
don't spend all their time plotting and spying; they drink cold white wine, dream about a better life, yearn for a peaceful
time again, and they search for love.
This book is first-class, and it should be read by anyone interested in intrigue and romance in the WWII era.
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