During WWII the successful British invasion of France depends on the Germans not knowing where it will happen. It also depends on a harbor for the ships to land and men to deploy. This limits the possible sites of invasion and makes it easier for the Germans to defend those few sites.

Until the British devise a plan whereby huge container ships can be floated across the channel and sunk offshore, creating a new harbor.

It’s a plan that must be kept from the Germans.

Although many of the Nazi spies have been rounded up and either killed or converted to British assets, there are still spies in England. Some have been established there for years and are sleepers until the time is right. One of the woman sleepers has killed a solitary woman and assumed her identity. One hates the British. He’s Irish and his brother was killed by them. Others can be brought in by submarine across the short stretch of channel and landed on desolate bits of coast.

Inside the halls of power, the Nazi spymasters have several competing spy organizations. The British also have competing units. It’s not clear where loyalties belong.

It’s a complicated and twisty story. I enjoyed the historical aspects the best. ( )

Scanned certain parts. Decided I did not want to finish it because it was fiction. I like to know what really happened and not confuse my understanding with fictional accounts where I don't know what is true and what is not ( )

Scanned certain parts. Decided I did not want to finish it because it was fiction. I like to know what really happened and not confuse my understanding with fictional accounts where I don't know what is true and what is not ( )

Alfred Vicary is a history professor turned spy runner just before D-Day in WWII. Catherine Blake is an embedded Nazi spy who entered England in 1938 from the Netherlands. In order to obscure her real identity she killed an English woman, briefly taking her identity. In 1944, Kurt Vogel, a Nazi spy runner, activates Catherine in order to gain information about the nature, location, and time of the D-Day invasion. Vicary's job, working for Sir Basil Boothbay, is to find these spies and neutralize their network. ( )

The Unlikely Spy, the first of Daniel Silva's string of spy thrillers, should pique enough interest to lead one into a sampling of his other works. The novel is true to the history of MI5 and its desperate attempt to keep the location of the planned invasion of Europe from the Nazis. Professor Alfred Vicary is given the task by his friend Churchill who tells him to report ..."to Brigadier Sir Basil Boothby. He is the head of the division to which you will be assigned. He is also the complete English ass. He'd thwart me if he could, but he's too stupid for that. Man could fuck up a steel ball."
There is much in the way of deception and betrayal throughout the novel which moves swiftly into an exciting search for a highly skilled and murderous female spy, who, despicable as she is, has some appeal to the reader's sympathy. We are also brought into the Nazi's perspective and follow Kurt Vogel, master spy trainer and runner as he struggles to find the truth and deals with his loathing of Hitler.
The plot takes a surprising twist the last few pages which is worth the wait.