Events

The first meeting of Left Bank Books Downtown's "Novel Ideas Reading Group"!  Perfect for your lunch hour.  Reserve your box lunch from City Grocer by emailing kris@left-bank.com.  More info to follow.  Remember, all reading group selections are 20% off! 

In this extraordinary follow-up to the best-selling Moscow Rules, Gabriel Allonreturns to find himself once more on the front lines of the secret war between East and West. Allon uncovers a deadly conspiracy and, in order to stop it, he must risk everything--even his life. #1 New York Times best-selling author Daniel Silva has written numerous internationally popular spy novels andis best know for his Gabriel Allon series.

 

 

Question & Answer with Daniel Silva:

1.In 2008, you released #1 New York Timesbestseller Moscow Rules, a bookeveryone was talking about. Now you’ve written the much-anticipated sequel.Tell us a little about The Defector.

 

The Defector is my twelfth novel and the ninth tofeature my hero, the enigmatic art restorer and Israeli assassin Gabriel Allon.As you might expect, a writer forms an attachment to all his books—in a way,they’re a bit like children—but I’m especially excited about The Defector because it’s not only a thrillerbut a love story. Just to bring readers up to date, in the last installment ofthe series, Gabriel brought down one of the world’s most dangerous men: the ruthlessRussian oligarch and arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. But even the great Gabriel Allonmakes mistakes once in a while, and in the case of Ivan, his mistake wasleaving him alive. There’s a wonderful quotation from Machiavelli that I use asthe epigram for the novel: “If an injury has to be done to a man, it should beso severe that his vengeance need not be feared.” Gabriel would have been wiseto heed that advice. He didn’t, of course. And in The Defector, Ivan Kharkov is out for revenge.

2. Did I hear you correctly? A man who’sbeen described as one of the top American spy novelists of all time has writtena love story?

 

It’s true. A heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat,and sometimes extremely violent love story, but a love story nonetheless. Ifeel as if I’ve developed a real bond with my readers, and I’ve learnedsomething extremely valuable from them. While they’re captivated by Gabriel’sadventures, they also follow his personal trials and misfortunes very carefully—especiallymy female readers. Gabriel has had a complicated history with women, to say theleast, but I’ve discovered that many of my female readers have a bit of a crushon him. Frankly, I’m a bit surprised by this. He’s moody, clinically shy, andprone to periods of melancholia. But he’s also a very intriguing and attractivecharacter.

 

 

3.In fact, Gabriel’s personal life plays an important role in the way The Defector unfolds.

 

It really does. As the story opens, he’s returnedto an isolated villa in the hills of Umbria to resume his honeymoon with Chiaraand to restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. But his world isonce again thrown into turmoil when he learns that Grigori Bulganov, thedefector and former Russian intelligence officer who saved his life in Moscow,has vanished without a trace from a busy street in London. British intelligenceis convinced Grigori was a double agent all along, but Gabriel’s masters in TelAviv have another opinion. They suspect Bulganov has been abducted by IvanKharkov. And they’re convinced Gabriel is next on Ivan’s list. Gabriel isconfronted by a stark choice. He can return to Israel and go into hiding, or hecan try to keep a promise he made to Grigori the night of their dramatic escapefrom Russia. He chooses the second option—after all, he is Gabriel Allon—and, as you might imagine, Chiara isn’t terribly pleased.Without giving away too much of the plot, the decision will prove to be themost fateful of Gabriel’s long career, and his life will never be the sameagain.

 

 

4.As you mentioned, women like Gabriel Allon, and Daniel Silva clearly likeswriting female characters. In fact, the storyline is dominated by a series ofvery intriguing, very compelling women.

 

That’s true. And each of the remarkable womenportrayed in the novel have a huge impact on the way the story is finally resolved.In real life I’m surrounded by strong women—anyone who’s met my wife knowsthat—so it’s only natural for me to cast women in heroic roles.

 

 

5.As with all your books, The Defectormoves briskly across a broad canvas: Moscow, Geneva, Paris, Lake Como, Saint-Tropez,and a place you poetically refer to as “the Russian city sometimes referred toas London.” Whyis London so central to your story?

 

In short, because Londonnow finds itself on the front lines of this new Cold War between Russiaand the West. You might find this surprising, but some two hundred thousandRussians make their home in metropolitan London these days. Those Russiansinclude exiled billionaires and dissidents along with several hundred Russianintelligence agents. By all accounts, MI5, the British Security Service, wascaught flatfooted by the recent surge of Russian espionage activity in London. And with goodreason. For the past several years, the overwhelming majority of MI5’sresources have been focused on the fight against Islamic terrorism. Now they’vehad to redirect many of those assets toward the Russians. I’m afraid they havelittle choice. The murder of a real-life defector and dissident named AlexanderLitvinenko proved that the Kremlin is willing to use violence when it wants tomake a point.

 

6.Your books have a very sharp sense of setting and place. Do you actually go toall the places you write about?

 

In the case of The Defector, I really have: a chess club in Bloomsbury, a quietmews in Maida Vale, a dingy, dilapidated terraced house in Oxford,an isolated villa in the Haute-Savoie region of France. I’ve even been inside theheadquarters of the FSB (the Russian Federal Security Service, what is known astoday’s KGB). I think it’s important to walk the streets that Gabriel walks.I’m not just using sexy datelines. I’ve been to these places and for the mostpart rendered them accurately—although, occasionally, I take a bit of literarylicense. For example, the members of the real chess club in Bloomsbury are amuch more princely lot than the ones who appear on the pages of The Defector.

 

 

7.The critics have called you “the gold standard” of thriller writers becauseyour books are not only addictive page-turners but sophisticated stories toldwith beautiful prose. What is your writing process like? And has it become easierover the years?

 

I wish I could say it’s become easier,but, in reality, the opposite is true. I always thought that once I had a fewbooks under my belt, I would discover some magic secret to writing one. But thetruth is, there is no magic secret. Each book is a unique and surprisingjourney, and when I get to the end of it, I’m always a bit surprised I actuallymade it.

 

 

8.Do you outline your stories first?

 

I tried to write an outline once, but itreally didn’t work for me. In fact, when I finished the book and looked back atthe original outline, they had very little in common other than the broadthemes and the title. Basically, I like to map out the first third of the story.Once I’ve brought it to life on the page, I try to stand aside and let thecharacters take over. As for my writing schedule, it’s fairly intense. Mostpeople think a writer’s life is idyllic—don’t get me wrong, I’m notcomplaining—but in reality there’s nothing romantic about it. I publish a booka year, which means I have about six months to research and write. I’m at mydesk at six in the morning, and I work seven days a week. I also put tremendouspressure on myself. It may sound odd, but when someone tells me they loved mylast book, or that it was my best yet, all I can think is, “Now I have to writea better one.”

 

 

9.Critics have hailed Gabriel Allon as one of the most fascinating characters onthe literary landscape today. But he’s not the typical hero, is he?

 

Not at all. First of all, there’s theissue of his nationality. He can pass as an Italian or a German, but in realityGabriel Allon is an Israeli. He started his career for Israeli intelligence whenhe was very young. In fact, he was still in art school when he was recruited tohunt down and kill the perpetrators of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre. Butwhat makes Gabriel unique—and what makes him so attractive to many differentkinds of readers—is his cover job. Gabriel is truly one of the finest artrestorers in the world. He uses restoration not only as his cover but as a wayto heal himself after difficult operations.

 

 

10.Your villains stand out because they are never one-dimensional. And I supposeit was no accident that the antagonist of TheDefector was named Ivan, as in Ivan the Terrible?

 

None whatsoever. Good thrillers need goodvillains, and Ivan Kharkov certainly falls into that category. For the record,he is a wholly fictitious character, but he may remind some people of theRussian oligarchs we’re always reading about in the newspaper. The ones who flyaround the world on private jets and own mansions in London and the south ofFrance. There is a legitimate side to Ivan’s business operations—a veryprofitable one actually—but he makes most of his money selling Russian weaponsto very dangerous people. In fact, Ivan Kharkov is without question the biggestprivate arms dealer in the world. He’s shrewd, intelligent, and prone toextreme violence. He also has the Kremlin in his back pocket along with thebacking of the Russian intelligence services. And that makes him a globalmenace.

 

 

11.A moment ago, you mentioned Alexander Litvinenko, the former FSB officer andthe defector who was murdered in Londonin November 2006 with a dose of radioactive polonium-210. I suppose the echoesof Litvinenko’s death in your story are intentional?

 

Absolutely. Litvinenko’s death was awatershed moment. Consider it in these terms: for five years before his death,the United States and its allies had been locked in a global struggle againstal-Qaeda and its affiliates. And yet Russia, our supposed ally, staged whatamounted to an act of nuclear terrorism in the heart of London. I’ve alwaysbeen fascinated by the man accused by the British of actually carrying out theattack: Andrei Lugovoi. He denies any role, of course, and the Russiangovernment has rejected a request to extradite him to Britain. But what makesLugovoi so interesting to me is that he actually became something of a nationalhero in Russia and even served in parliament. As one of my characters, OlgaSukhova, likes to say, “Only in Russia.”

 

 

12.There’s a Russian term used in the book that really becomes the spine of thestory: vyshaya mera.

 

In Russian, it means “the highest measureof punishment.” I first read about it in a wonderful book published not longago called Comrade J by Pete Earley.It tells the real-life story of a Russian spy who defected to the United Statesin 2000. Vyshaya mera was the term heused to describe the punishment meted out to those who betray Russia’sintelligence services: “He would be taken into a room, made to kneel, then shotin the back of the head with a high-caliber handgun so his face would becomeunrecognizable because of the blast. His body would be dumped in an unmarkedgrave. His relatives would not be told where.” That passage haunted me for along time. It is so quintessentially Russian. In many respects it is theinspiration for the story of The Defector.

 

13.You always do exhaustive research for your books, and in your Author’s Note yousay the story was inspired by a visit you made to a place called Butovo. Tellus about it.

 

Butovo was one of the killing sites usedby Stalin’s henchmen during the Great Terror. The victims were brought therelate at night after the proverbial “knock at the door” and shot to death in asmall building. Then they were buried in long mass graves. Recently the RussianOrthodox Church turned Butovo into a memorial, a shrine, to Stalin’s victims.In fact, my family and I were among the first Americans to visit. It was anincredibly moving and sad experience. What’s more, it’s one of only a handfulof places where ordinary Russians can pay tribute to Communism’s victims.

 

 

14.Why are there so few places like Butovo in Russia?

 

I think it’s quite obvious. The leadersof the New Russia aren’t terribly interested in exposing the sins of the Sovietpast. On the contrary, they are engaged in a carefully orchestrated endeavor toairbrush away its most repulsive aspects while celebrating its achievements. Isuppose one can understand why. The NKVD, which carried out the Great Terror atStalin’s behest, was the forerunner of the KGB. And former officers of the KGB,including Vladimir Putin himself, are now running Russia. During a visit toGermany in 2007, Putin famously remarked that “problematic pages in our historyexist.” It seems to me the systematic murder of a million people is more thanjust “problematic.” And those are just the ones who were shot to death in theGreat Terror. Millions more died from Stalin-induced famines.

 

 

15.And yet Stalin remains incredibly popular in Russia to this day.

 

I think the most recent poll found he wasthe third most popular leader in Russian history, behind only Peter the Greatand Vladimir Putin. In fact, when you visit tourist flea markets in Russiathese days, it is startling to see that one of the most popular items are smallbronze busts of Stalin. Imagine if the city were Berlin instead of Moscow andone could buy statues of Hitler. There would be outrage across Europe. Andrightly so.

 

 

16.Do you think this sort of historical myopia is dangerous?

 

The obvious danger is that it mighthappen again. In far smaller and more subtle ways, it already is. Look at poorStanislav Markelov, the crusading human rights lawyer and social justiceactivist who was gunned down on a central Moscowstreet in January 2009. His assassins shot him twice in the head and thenmanaged to escape in broad daylight. In my opinion, Markelov’s murder was inits own way vyshaya mera and GreatTerror, right on the streets of Moscow.There’s a lawlessness in Russiathat is truly terrifying. And I believe the Kremlin bears much of theresponsibility. What is your average Russian killer to think when he hearsVladimir Putin describe Anna Politkovskaya—a crusading journalist, author, andhuman rights activist—as a person of “marginal significance” not long after she’sgunned down in the elevator of her apartment building? It was an incrediblycallous thing to say. But I think it also left the impression that the Kremlinwouldn’t mind it much if troublesome journalists and other critics of theregime were taken out.

 

 

17.What do you want readers to get out of this book? 

 

First and foremost, I want them to beentertained. I want them to be swept away in a fast-paced story with moments ofgreat human drama and excitement. At the same time, it is a cautionary tale. Iwant them to understand that the more things change, the more they stay thesame, and that we’ll need to keep one eye focused on Russia as we move forward in theyears ahead.

 

 

18.So what’s next for Gabriel Allon?

 

Perhaps a bit of rest, but not for toolong. It’s a dangerous world. And I have no doubt someone is going to requirehis services in the very near future. After all, he is Gabriel Allon.