Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva ISBN: 0-451-20930-3 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.49 (74 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Satisfying and Cunningly Plotted
Comment: Veteran journalist, Daniel Silva, makes his mark as a novelist with, "The Unlikely Spy," a quality World War II espionage thriller. The story centers on Britain's top plans for the D-Day invasion and Hitler's attempt to uncover the vital secret of the war; the time and place of the Anglo-American invasion of France.
Working on behalf of Germany is the beautiful Catherine Blake, a ruthless Mata Hari type spy who will seduce, maim, and kill in order to help Nazi Germany achieve victory. Hand-picked by Winston Churchill himself is Alfred Vicary, a successful history professor. Vicary's job is to run "Operation Double Cross" for M15 England's couterespionage agency. It is known that Germany has spies stationed in England, but who they are and how to find and break them lands on the shoulders of Vicary. The war could easily be lost to Germany if vital information is leaked to Hitler. For Vicary, not only does he face the challenge of foreign enemies, but also he must deal with a few deceitful people in his own department, jealous of his designation by Churchill. The cat-and-mouse game begins to roll!
Silva's book is not entirely original, you will see shades of Follet and Higgins throughout. Nonetheless, it is entertaining and the historical facts the story is based on are accurate. I believe Silva shows a lot of promise as a future force in the world of high-spy literature. With experience he should develop a style which is uniquely his own. He is definitely worth reading.
Rating: 3
Summary: Well-written but flawed
Comment: This is a well-written spy novel concerning the Allied turning of Axis agents in England, and the deception about where the D-Day forces would land. It does well at portraying daily life in wartime London, and some of the characters have depth and complexity.
Yet all this effort at realism and character development falls short. Many people who read this book KNOW the true story of how the Allies turned the German agents in England, and the various complex and ingenious methods which deceived Germany about the planned landing point of D-Day.
And such readers KNOW that the British would not be so dumb and reckless with thousands of lives, as to give the Germans information pointing to Normandy, merely because that information MIGHT cause dissension among German intelligence analysts which MIGHT benefit the Allies.
Nor would the type of risky and pointless manipulation WITHIN the British MI5, which is part of the book's plot, be engineered by MI5, just because it MIGHT make fake information received by the Germans look more authentic -- just as it might allow the Germans to get the true information and cause D-Day to fail.
There are so many plot lines, with equal drama and tension, that could have been developed within the framework of known facts, that it seems silly for an author to go so far outside the known facts.
Rating: 4
Summary: needs editing
Comment: The plot of this novel is interesting - not as engrossing as some others of this genre such as Forsythe and Harris. My biggest complaint is the disrupting way flashback are inserted into the story. Only one is necessary, the others are just distractions and do not further the plot or enrich the characters. This being the author's first published work I must blame the editor for this. I'm hoping other work will be more tight.
 |
Title: The Mark of the Assassin by Daniel Silva ISBN: 0451209311 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 02 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The English Assassin by Daniel Silva ISBN: 0451208188 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 25 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The Marching Season by Daniel Silva ISBN: 045120932X Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: The Confessor by Daniel Silva ISBN: 0399149724 Publisher: Putnam Pub Group Pub. Date: 24 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva ISBN: 0451209338 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
