The Mark of the Assassin (1998)

The Marching Season (1999)

Those are prequels to Silva’s much more famous Gabriel Allon spy thrillers.

Michael Osbourne is the hero of these two. He faces Jean-Paul Delaroche, the world’s most dangerous assassin.

I’d say the Osbourne books are as good as the Allon series. Highly recommended.

Silva: 

In 1999, after publishing The Marching Season, the second book in the Michael Osbourne series, I decided it was time for a change.

We were nearing the end of the Clinton administration, and the president was about to embark on a last-ditch effort to bring peace to the Middle East. I had the broad outlines of a story in mind: a retired Israeli assassin is summoned from retirement to track down a Palestinian terrorist bent on destroying the Oslo peace process. …

The Accidental Series – Daniel Silva on the Gabriel Allon series