The Art Restorer Who Came in From the Cold: Daniel Silva on Gabriel Allon, the Truest Fake Spy

The Israeli art restorer and spy Gabriel Allon is as real as George Smiley or Hercule Poirot. He even has his own Wikipedia page. The CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel describes herself on X as a friend of Gabriel Allon before she gets around to mentioning her husband, the best-selling thriller writer Daniel Silva who, of course, is the creator of Allon. As with all successful literary inventions, of course, Silva is as much Allon as Allon is Silva. Silva-Allon. Amongst the most lucrative partnerships in contemporary fiction. Unsurprisingly, Silva still hasn’t managed to kill off Allon. Twenty-six books into the series, the retired Mossad legend turned Venice art restorer is the truest fake spy in the business — a character so real that Silva, who seems to revel in his insularity, has to lock himself away from imagining how readers receive him. Or perhaps he’s locking himself away from Allon. In Ransom, out today, a billionaire real estate baron asks Allon to find his vanished wife, the dazzling socialite Alice Winter — who has, of course, a darker life. Behind Silva’s latest summer best-seller looms Russia’s shadow war on Europe. That’s the post-cold war cold war politics of Ransom. Unit 29155, the GRU’s sabotage specialists, are hitting pipelines and flying drones over Copenhagen, an MI6 officer describes the Russians as feral animals, and Ransom’s climax unfolds at an emergency Downing Street summit with Zelensky without the United States in the room. It’s a terrifying narrative as real as Gabriel Allon. Five Takeaways • An Art Restorer Who Used to Be a Spy. Invented for one book in 1999, never meant to continue. Twenty-six books later, Allon is retired to Venice and aging in reverse — frozen like Poirot. • Russia's Shadow War. Unit 29155 is hitting pipelines and flying the drones that shut down Copenhagen — an MI6 officer calls the Russians feral animals. The climax: a Downing Street summit with Zelensky where America isn't in the room. • An Israeli Hero After October 7. Allon is the old liberal establishment made flesh — a man who would never sit in a cabinet with Ben-Gvir or Smotrich. Silva, an avowed two-stater: October 7 was barbaric, but this war has gone on far too long. • The Super Rich, With a Judgmental Eye. The glamour draws the contrast: a new global super elite is checking out from the rest of us. Ibiza's homeless encampments sit alongside the socialite's yacht. • Pencils on the Floor. A literary novelist masquerading as a thriller writer, Silva lies on the floor and writes with pencils. AI appears in Ransom only as a deepfake to be detected. Book 27 began the day after book 26 was finished. About Keen On America Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. Website: https://keenon.tv/ Substack: https://keenon.substack.com/ YouTube:    / @keenonshow   Buy Ransom: harpercollins.co.uk/products/ransom-gabriel-allon-book-26-daniel-silva Chapters: 00:00:31 Introduction: Ransom, book 26 of the Gabriel Allon series 00:02:13 Has Gabriel Allon aged? Aging in reverse 00:03:42 Inventing Gabriel: Camp David, a cottage near Land's End 00:06:00 Writing an Israeli hero after October 7 00:08:23 Allon: the old Israeli liberal establishment made flesh 00:09:17 Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, and the government Allon would never join 00:11:38 A character with his own Wikipedia page 00:12:56 Did Gabriel Allon ever meet George Smiley? 00:14:31 Ransom: a fundraiser, a socialite, a dangerous secret 00:16:49 Russia's shadow war: Unit 29155 00:17:56 Drones over Denmark 00:20:00 What would Allon tell Smiley about Russia? 00:20:44 Moscow Rules: ahead of the curve on Putin 00:21:28 A Downing Street summit without America 00:23:29 How Britain changed in twenty-five years 00:24:50 Austerity, seven prime ministers, and the shires 00:26:31 Why invent Alice Winter? Writing the super rich 00:28:58 Ibiza's homeless encampments: balancing the glamour 00:29:44 Keeping ahead of a surreal world 00:31:44 1914, the Industrial Revolution — or the interwar years? 00:34:02 Immigration, Lampedusa, and An Inside Job 00:35:19 The K&R business: kidnap and ransom 00:36:32 Never killing Gabriel: freezing time like Poirot 00:37:25 A literary novelist masquerading as a thriller writer 00:39:08 Is Gabriel a model for the AI age? 00:39:40 The deepfake proof of life 00:40:11 Writing with pencils on the floor 00:41:16 Off to Westport Library: congratulations