This summer, Gabriel Allon, the wayward son of Israeli intelligence, returns in The Other Woman, the next novel in Daniel Silva’s #1 New York Times bestselling franchise.
Though we’re only about three months away from publication, we still don’t very much about Silva’s next book. . . not that it really matters, in all honesty, as Silva is one of only a handful of thriller writers who carries a ‘buy-now’ status on name recognition alone. Basically, when you see his name on a book, you buy it, period. No questions asked.
Here’s what we do know about The Other Woman, other than the fact that it has a bold and striking cover, and that it comes out on July 17th.
The plot description, so far, contains just eight words:
Espionage…Love…Betrayal…
Nothing is what it seems.
Now, I can tell you that the “other woman” the title eludes does not point to trouble in Gabriel’s marriage to the beautiful and highly-trained former Office operator, and the mother of his newly born twins, Chiara. A source very close to Silva has assured me that Gabriel and Chiara are perfectly fine. Beyond that, the “woman” in question is a mystery, much like the character in question when the author first revealed the title for his 13th Allon book, The English Girl (2013).
Back in January, I theorized that Silva’s next book would launch a new story arc, much like how The Heist (2013), The English Girl (2014), and The English Spy (2015) all deal with the redemption of Christopher Keller, and how The Black Widow (2016) and House of Spies (2017) are each connected and tied to ISIS being the main threat.
My educated guess, at the time, was that Allon would be dealing with Russia in the next book since they’ve dominated recent news stories and Silva has a well-known, almost prophetic-like knack for beating headlines with the storylines in his books. Gabriel, of course, has dealt with Russians in the past (Moscow Rules, The Defector, etc.) and it appears he will once again in The Other Woman. One look at the cover all but confirms that. . .
Aside from the red color which has a very Cold War-like feel to it, the hammer and sickle, the known Communist symbol that was conceived during the Russia Revolution, is front and center inside the O in the word woman. In addition to that, the background appears to depict the Russian capital, Moscow, though I’m not 100% sure which buildings are pictured. (The one of the left appears to be the Moscow State University, but I cannot confirm that.)
So, while Russia seems like a safe bet to play a prominent role in The Other Woman, we’ll ultimately have to wait for more official plot details to be released to know how, specifically, they’re involved and what Gabriel Allon and friends will be up against this time around. In the meantime, Daniel’s Silva’s highly-anticipated new thriller can be pre-ordered here, or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.