The Other Woman

February 15, 2018

Art restorer and sometime Israeli secret agent Gabriel Allon is back, though he doesn't yet have a brief. With a 500,000-copy first printing and a ten-city tour.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 9, 2018
The actions of real-life British intelligence agent Kim Philby, who defected to the Soviet Union in 1963, drive bestseller Silva’s excellent 18th novel featuring Israeli art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon (after 2017’s House of Spies). Israel’s intelligence division, known as the Office, is running an operation to save blown Russian agent Konstantin Kirov, one of Israeli’s most valuable sources, and bring him to sanctuary in the U.K. When the operation goes bad, Gabriel and his team are drawn into a meticulously planned mission, involving both MI6 and the CIA, to unearth one of the Kremlin’s highest-placed moles. Meanwhile, in Andalusia, a French journalist starts writing a memoir called The Other Woman, which contains the key to the mystery that Gabriel must solve. Philby, who died in Moscow three decades earlier in 1988, turns out to be at the bottom of it. In recent years, a number of thriller authors have focused on Philby, but Silva’s treatment of him may be the most complex and fascinating yet. Readers will be enthralled by both the history and the up-to-the-minute plot that Silva spins with such finesse. 10-city author tour.

July 15, 2018
Gabriel Allon is back in action.For a time, it looked like Israel's most famous spy might actually retreat to a desk job. In The Black Widow (2016) and The House of Spies (2017), it seemed as if Allon's creator was bringing younger, secondary characters to the foreground, but Allon has now taken center stage again. In this way and others, Silva's latest feels like a throwback to some of the earlier books in the series as well as to spy novels of the Cold War era. This is not the product of a lack of creativity on Silva's part but rather a reflection of current events. Russia is the adversary here, and Allon and his team must find the one woman who can reveal the identity of a mole who has reached the highest echelons of Britain's MI6. The search will take Allon deep into the past, into the secret heart of one of the 20th century's greatest intelligence scandals. Silva's work has always had a political edge, and his storytelling has only grown more biting recently. Although he doesn't name the current American leader, he does mention "a presidential tryst with an adult film star" as well as that president's strange fondness for Vladimir Putin. Silva depicts a world in which communist true believers are dying out while far-right populists around the world look to the New Russia as a triumph of hard-line nationalism. The alliances that have sustained Western democracies are fraying, and Europe is preparing for a future in which the United States is no longer a reliable friend, nor a superpower. Silva's work is always riveting, but this summer blockbuster isn't exactly an escape--especially for readers who stick around for the author's note at the end. Although the Gabriel Allon novels are interrelated, Silva is adept at crafting narratives that can stand alone. This thriller will satisfy the author's fans while it will also appeal to those who appreciate past masters of the genre like John le Carré and Graham Greene.Gripping as always and grimly realistic.

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