Read-Alike Monday: Daniel Silva

Lake Forest Library patrons love Daniel Silva's books because of their intriguing, well researched storylines. Silva's most popular series features Mossad agent Gabriel Allon, a master art restorer and sometime officer of Israeli intelligence. These novels are violent, well written spy thrillers and readers can't get enough of them! The first book in this series is The Kill Artist. For those of you that are already fans and are just waiting to get your hands on the latest in the series, The Black Widow, try some of these authors in the meantime.

Read-Alikes:

Alan Furst: writes historical spy novels set just before World War II. His books are well researched and involve complex plots. Start with Night Soldiers- set in Bulgaria, 1934 when a young man is murdered by the local fascists. His brother, Khristo Stoianev, is recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and sent to Spain to serve in its civil war. Warned that he is about to become a victim of Stalin’s purges, Khristo flees to Paris. Night Soldiers masterfully re-creates the European world of 1934–45: the struggle between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia for Eastern Europe, the last desperate gaiety of the beau monde in 1937 Paris, and guerrilla operations with the French underground in 1944.

Brian Freemantle: writes suspenseful espionage novels featuring smart, complex intelligence operatives who are enmeshed in dangerous, sometimes violent, cat-and-mouse games involving terrorists, the KGB, or the CIA. Start with Charlie M, the first in the Charlie Muffin series. Charlie Muffin, a British spy, finds himself shot at and missed and then shot at and hit by his own employers in this truly excellent novel of double crosses in the spy game.

Graham Greene: wrote many different kinds of books, but several focusing on international politics and espionage. These titles include, The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and The Human Factor. These stories wrestle with the moral consequences of spying and the impact that killing has on those who kill.

Andrew Grant: writes intricately plotted and violent espionage thrillers whose tales lead through mazes of double and triple-crosses. Start with Even, the first in a series of books featuring Royal Naval Intelligence officer, David Trevellyan. The story begins when David is set up for the murder of a homeless man in New York City. He must solve this international conspiracy to save himself and seek justice for the homeless victim.