The Unlikely Spy

By: Daniel Silva

Narrated by: Michael Page

Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

#1 New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva’s celebrated debut novel, The Unlikely Spy, is “A roller-coaster World War II adventure that conjures up memories of the best of Ken Follett and Frederick Forsyth” (The Orlando Sentinel).

“In wartime,” Winston Churchill wrote, “truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” For Britain’s counterintelligence operations, this meant finding the unlikeliest agent imaginable - a history professor named Alfred Vicary, handpicked by Churchill himself to expose a highly dangerous, but unknown, traitor. The Nazis, however, have also chosen an unlikely agent. Catherine Blake is the beautiful widow of a war hero, a hospital volunteer - and a Nazi spy under direct orders from Hitler: uncover the Allied plans for D-Day...

©2009 Daniel Silva (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Evocative...memorable...a classic World War II espionage tale.” (The Washington Post)

“Briskly suspenseful.” (The New York Times)

“Layers of depth and intrigue...Silva succeeds with panache.” (USA Today)

interesting characters - many twists

I thought this spy novel by Daniel Silva was good. The narrator was right on and there was good character development and historical action. Enjoyed.

Awesome narrator!

Of all the audible books narrators I have heard throughout the years Michael Page has got to be one of the best. His ability to make the various characters come alive was exceptional.

Sooo long and so many characters.

It was interesting in so many ways;however, it was laborious I detail and building up to action. There are many characters and it was difficult to keep up with them. The narrator made it through the tome and deserves kudos for that. He sounded like a news reel reporter from old movies. That can become annoying. Lots of graphic sex, f word, etc. Did they really use the f that much at that time?

A rich historical novel

Silva populates his story with complex and interesting characters. The plot unwindA slowly like a Victorian novel.

great spy novel

I loved the mix/balance of WWII fact and fiction. I'm a fan of the modern renditions a la Bourne Identity, but the slow paced long game of spy craft is the good stuff!

A good World War II Story

An interesting spy tale. The narrative was Old English, actually World War II English and told a very interesting manner. anyone should love this Tale as long as you can hang in there till the end as it is quite long.

Felicidades al narrador

Que extraordinaria manera de personificar a los diferentes personajes fe está otra vez muy emocionante historia de David Silva .
Los dos me pueden contar entre sus miles de admiradores.

Increasingly implausible and cartoonish

I bought this mainly for the wartime British setting, but soon grew impatient with the characters — a “strikingly beautiful” (of course) bisexual German agent who’s depicted as a virtually flawless, invincible killing machine; a wealthy young American who’s widely regarded as the nation's most brilliant engineer; an assortment of German spies and spymasters and an improbably intuitive British spy-catcher, all of whom are depicted as sheer geniuses; a Cockney gang kingpin out of central casting; Prime Minister Churchill having an important meeting while he takes a bath (during which he commands his valet to turn the temperature up from 102 to 104); resiliently cheerful Londoners who keep dropping their H’s and talking about tea… They all just began to seem too cartoonish, or at least too cliched, like characters out of dozens of movies I’ve seen over the years.

Super agent Allon not needed.

Fits the main character perfectly. However unlikely, war and the manipulators turn him into one.

felt familiar

there is so much WWII fiction and non fiction. I had a strong feeling that I had listened to this story before. and I am still not sure if I have our if it just reminds me of other spy stories. great story though.