Daniel Silva is not the most active author on social media, but when he does post something, it’s usually pretty awesome. Today is just another example, as the bestselling author posted a short video of what appears to be him typing the next Gabriel Allon thriller, which is set to hit bookstores next July.
First, for a little background, Silva is notorious for handwriting his novels–using pencil and legal pads–before ever touching a computer. Therefore, it’s a pretty safe bet that the first written draft of Gabriel Allon #17 is done.
However, the real tidbit here is what the author is typing. For those who can’t keep up with his swift-moving fingers in the video, Silva also provided a caption. Check out the video below, and then scroll down to read a few more details.
Here’s the video’s caption:
For those who need an escape, the following was overheard from the world of #GabrielAllon: “Couldn’t you have missed?” asked Graham Seymour. “I tried,” answered Christopher Keller. “But the damn fool jumped in front of my bullet.” #books#spy#thriller#reading
Catch that yet?
Christopher Keller will return in 2017! And before you question whether or not that’s a line from a previous book, it’s not. Well, we hope it’s not because we spent the better part of our morning fact-checking that claim. Anyways, we found no evidence of that line in any of Silva’s previous novels that feature Keller (The English Assassin, The English Girl, The Heist, The English Spy), so it has to be the still untitled follow-up to this year’s The Black Widow.
For those who need a quick refresher, Keller was first introduced in Silva’s second Gabriel Allon novel, The English Assassin. He returns as an ally of Allon’s in The English Girl before teaming with Gabriel once again in The Heist and The English Spy. A former British commando who was thought to have been killed by friendly fire, Keller actually survived the incident and hired out his services to Don Orsati and his Corsica-based team of assassins.
In The English Spy, Graham Seymour, Head of Britain’s MI6, needs Gabriel for a high-priority job. Allon refuses to help unless he can have Keller for backup and further negotiates their deal to include Keller’s return home. Rather than face criminal charges, Keller is hired by Seymour to work as an MI6 agent and, at the very end of the book, he’s given his first assignment–to find a terrorist by the name of Eamon Quinn–which he carries out with extreme efficiency.
Keller, who is one of Silva’s best characters to date, is always fun to follow around. Whatever his role is in the next book, I think I speak for all fans when I say we can’t wait to check it out!