The English Spy was published by Harper in 2015. A bomb destroys the yacht of a former member of the British royal family — a thinly fictionalized echo of the 1979 assassination of Lord Mountbatten by the IRA. Allon and Christopher Keller (the former SAS officer introduced in The English Assassin) pursue the bomb-maker: an aging IRA operative who has gone freelance, selling his skills to the highest bidder.
The novel deepens the Allon-Keller partnership and draws on the history of Irish republican violence — specifically, the uneasy peace that followed the Good Friday Agreement and the question of whether old warriors can truly lay down their arms. The bomb-maker is a compelling antagonist precisely because his original cause (Irish unification) had a legitimate political basis, however abhorrent his methods.
The Mountbatten Echo
The assassination that opens the novel — a bomb on a yacht — directly echoes the 1979 IRA assassination of Lord Mountbatten aboard his fishing boat Shadow V in Mullaghmore, County Sligo. Silva transposes this to a fictional princess, but the parallels are unmistakable and deliberate. The novel argues that the wounds of the Troubles have not healed, that the peace process papered over grievances that still fester.
The Keller Partnership
Christopher Keller — the former SAS officer turned Corsican assassin, introduced earlier in the series — becomes Allon’s primary operational partner here. The Allon-Keller dynamic (Israeli intelligence chief and British special forces veteran, both men of violence seeking redemption) gives the series a buddy-thriller dimension that Silva handles with more subtlety than the genre typically permits.
Collecting The English Spy
First edition (Harper, New York, 2015): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $20–$35
- Signed first edition: $50–$150
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest. Signed copies should reach $100–$300.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this connected to The English Girl? Only thematically — both are set in Britain and explore British political and security issues. The plots are independent.
Is the bomb-maker based on a real person? Not directly, but his profile — an aging IRA technician who cannot abandon the fight — draws on documented cases of dissident republicans who rejected the peace process.