Daniel Silva (novelist)

Early life

Silva was born in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. Silva's parents are both teachers. When Silva was seven years old, his family moved to Merced, California. He was raised as a Catholic.

Education

Silva received his BA from Fresno State and began a graduate program in international relations at San Francisco State University, but left when offered employment as a journalist at UPI.

Journalist

Silva began his writing career as a journalist with a temporary position at United Press International in 1984. 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. In 1997 Silva left CNN to pursue writing full-time.

Since then Silva has written 19 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 New York Times bestseller since its first installment in 2001. Seven 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.

Adaptations

In 2007, Universal Pictures made an offer to option the rights to Silva's Gabriel Allon series and it was believed they would begin with 2005's, The Messenger. In 2011, it was announced that Jeff Zucker would be the producer. The deal was never signed. Silva has said that, unless he finds the right creative team, he thinks Gabriel Allon should remain solely in print. On May 15, 2017, MGM Television and Silva annouinced that MGM had acquired the adaption rights for the Allon series; the press release contained no schedule and did not specify which novel or novels were under consideration. Silva and Jamie Gangel will act as executive producers.

Personal life

Silva met Jamie Gangel while they were both correspondents in the Middle East. Silva is married to Jamie Gangel, a CNN special correspondent. Silva converted from Catholic to Judaism, the religion of his wife.

Silva and his wife have two twin children, Nicholas and Lily. Silva frequently takes his children on research trips for his books.

Honors