Daniel Silva (novelist)

Daniel Silva (born 1960) is an American journalist and author of thriller and espionage novels.

Daniel Silva
Born	1960 (age 59–60) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist, Journalist
Alma mater	California State University, Fresno (BA)
Period	1996–present
Genre	Spy fiction
Notable awards	Barry Award 2007 The Messenger Barry Award 2013 The Fallen Angel
Years active	1984–present
Spouse	Jamie Gangel (1987–present)
Children	2
Website
www.danielsilvabooks.com
Literature portal

Early life

Silva was born in Detroit, Michigan. When Silva was seven years old, his family moved to Merced, California. He was raised as a Catholic.[1]

Silva received his Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Fresno and began a graduate program in international relations at San Francisco State University, but left when offered employment as a journalist at United Press International.[2]

Career

Journalist

Silva began his writing career as a journalist with a temporary position at United Press International in 1984.[1] His assignment was to cover the Democratic National Convention. United Press International made Silva's position permanent and, a year later, transferred him to the Washington, D.C., headquarters. After two more years, he was appointed as UPI's Middle East correspondent and moved to Cairo, Egypt.

Silva returned to Washington, D.C., for a position with Cable News Network's Washington Bureau. He worked as a producer and executive producer for several of CNN's television programs, including Crossfire and Capital Gang.

Novelist

In 1994 he began work on his first novel, The Unlikely Spy (1996). The novel debuted on The New York Times best-seller list on January 26, 1997; it remained on the list for five weeks, rising to number 13.[3] In 1997 Silva left CNN to pursue writing full-time.

Since then Silva has written 20 more spy novels, all best-sellers on The New York Times list. The main focus is Gabriel Allon, an Israeli art restorer, spy and assassin, who is a key figure in all but three of Silva's titles. The series has been a The New York Times bestseller since its first installment in 2001.[4][5] Twelve of the series' titles hit number one on The New York Times list of best sellers (Bibliography, below). Some of his novels are set against Islamic terrorism, some relate to villains set in Russia, and some are about historic events related to World War II and the Holocaust. Silva did not come into the Allon series with a significant understanding of the world of art restoration but was able to use a neighbor's expertise to help him turn a spy-assassin into an artist.[1]

Adaptations

In 2007, Universal Pictures made an offer to option the rights to Silva's Gabriel Allon series, starting with The Messenger (2005). In 2011, it was announced that Jeff Zucker would serve as producer, though the deal was never signed.[6][7] On May 15, 2017, MGM Television acquired the adaption rights for the Allon series, though no production schedule was released and it was not specified which novel or novels were under consideration.[8]

Personal life

Silva met Jamie Gangel, a CNN special correspondent while they were both correspondents in the Middle East. They later married, and Silva converted from Catholicism to Judaism, the religion of his wife.[1]

Silva and his wife have twin children, Nicholas and Lily. Silva frequently takes his children on research trips for his books.[1][9]

Honors

• 2007 Barry Award for Best Thriller for The Messenger, 2013 Barry Award for Best Thriller for The Fallen Angel.[10]
• In January 2009, Silva was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's United States Holocaust Memorial Council.[11]

Bibliography

Series	Nbr	Title	Year	ISBN	NYT Weeks^[A]	NYT Max^[B]	Note
None		The Unlikely Spy	1996	0679455620	5[3]	13[3]
Michael Osbourne	1	The Mark of the Assassin	1998	0679455639	3[12]	12[13]
Michael Osbourne	2	The Marching Season	1999	0375500898	5[14]	17[15]
Gabriel Allon	1	The Kill Artist	2000	0375500901	1[4]	12[4]
Gabriel Allon	2	The English Assassin	2002	0399148515	4[16]	7[17]
Gabriel Allon	3	The Confessor	2003	0399149724	5[18]	5[19]
Gabriel Allon	4	A Death in Vienna	2004	0399151435	5[20]	5[21]	Nominated for 2005 Barry Award for Best Thriller
Gabriel Allon	5	Prince of Fire	2005	0399152431	4[22]	5[23]
Gabriel Allon	6	The Messenger	2006	978-0399153358	6[24]	3[25]	Winner of 2007 Barry Award for Best Thriller
Gabriel Allon	7	The Secret Servant	2007	978-0399154225	6[26]	2[27]
Gabriel Allon	8	Moscow Rules	2008	978-0399155017	6[28]	1[29]
Gabriel Allon	9	The Defector	2009	978-0399155680	4[30]	1[31]
Gabriel Allon	10	The Rembrandt Affair	2010	978-0399156588	6[32]	1[33]	Nominated for 2011 Barry Award for Best Thriller
Gabriel Allon	11	Portrait of a Spy	2011	978-0062072184	6[34]	2[35]
Gabriel Allon	12	The Fallen Angel	2012	978-0062073129	6[36]	1[37]	Winner of 2013 Barry Award for Best Thriller
Gabriel Allon	13	The English Girl	2013	978-0062073167	7[38]	1[39]
Gabriel Allon	14	The Heist	2014	978-0062320056	6[40]	1[41]
Gabriel Allon	15	The English Spy	2015	978-0062320056	7[42]	1[43]
Gabriel Allon	16	The Black Widow	2016	978-0062320223	7[44]	1[45]
Gabriel Allon	17	House of Spies	2017	978-0062354341	6[46]	1[47]
Gabriel Allon	18	The Other Woman	2018	978-0062834829	5[48]	1[49]
Gabriel Allon	19	The New Girl	2019	978-0062834836	5[50]	1[51]
Gabriel Allon	20	The Order	2020	978-1460709764		1[52]

^A Weeks on The New York Times best seller list ^B Highest level on The New York Times best seller list

References

1. Hewitt, Hugh (July 29, 2008). "Moscow Rules spy novelist Daniel Silva (interview transcript of Hugh Hewitt Show)". The Hugh Hewitt Show. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
2. Pash, Barbara (September 2014). "Book Talk: Daniel Silva". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
3. "BEST SELLERS: February 23, 1997". The New York Times. February 23, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
4. "BEST SELLERS: January 28, 2001". The New York Times. January 28, 2002. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
5. "BEST SELLERS: April 7, 2002". The New York Times. April 7, 2002. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
6. Kilday, Gregg (April 1, 2011). "Jeff Zucker to Produce Movie Based on Daniel Silva's Spy Series". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
7. "FAQ". Daniel Silva. Daniel Silva. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
8. Otterson, Joe (May 15, 2017). "MGM TV Acquires Rights to Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon Spy Novels". Variety Media, LLC. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
9. Joyella, Mark. "CNN Hires Jamie Gangel as Special Correspondent". TVNewser. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
10. "Barry Awards". Deadly Pleasures. Archived from the original on April 23, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
11. "Daniel Silva". HarperCollins Publishers. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
12. "BEST SELLERS: April 19, 1998". The New York Times. April 19, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
13. "BEST SELLERS: April 12, 1998". The New York Times. April 12, 1998. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
14. "Best Sellers Plus". The New York Times. April 11, 1999. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
15. "Best Sellers Plus". The New York Times. April 4, 1999. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
16. "BEST SELLERS: April 14, 2002". The New York Times. April 14, 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
17. "BEST SELLERS: March 24, 2002". The New York Times. March 24, 2002. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
18. "BEST SELLERS: April 13, 2003". The New York Times. April 13, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
19. "BEST SELLERS: March 16, 2003". The New York Times. March 16, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
20. "BEST SELLERS: April 11, 2004". The New York Times. April 11, 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
21. "BEST SELLERS: March 14, 2004". The New York Times. March 14, 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
22. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. April 3, 2005. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
23. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. March 13, 2005. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
24. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. September 17, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
25. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. August 13, 2006. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
26. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. September 16, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
27. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. August 8, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
28. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. September 14, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
29. "The New York Times Best Seller List" (PDF). Hawes Publications. August 10, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
30. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 30, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
31. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 9, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
32. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 10, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
33. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 8, 2010. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
34. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 11, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
35. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 7, 2011. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
36. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 9, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
37. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 9, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
38. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 9, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
39. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 13, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
40. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 7, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
41. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 10, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
42. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 6, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
43. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. July 19, 2015. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
44. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 11, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
45. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. July 31, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
46. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
47. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
48. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
49. "The New York Times Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 5, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
50. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
51. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 4, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
52. "Best Sellers". The New York Times. August 2, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Author's biography