The Cellist by Daniel Silva

Acknowledgments

Needless to say, I didnot set out, in the late summer of 2020, to write a novel that featured an insurrection inspired by an American president and an inauguration conducted under the threat of an armed assault by US citizens. But in the days following the Capitol siege, I resolved to include the near death of American democracy in my story of Russia’s relentless war on the West. I jettisoned my existing ending and rewrote much of my manuscript in a span of six weeks. Such an undertaking would not have been possible without the editorial and emotional support of my wife, CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel, who was reporting on the very events about which I was writing. She reviewed my final substantive changes while sitting on the set of the network’s Washington studios, waiting to go on the air. My debt to her is immeasurable, as is my love.

I spoke with several intelligence officers and Russia analysts while writing The Cellist, and I thank them now in anonymity, which is how they would prefer it. My frequent conversations with Republican members of Congress and senior administration officials during the four turbulent years of the Trump presidency provided me with a unique view of a White House, and a federal government, in disarray. My depiction of the CIA director withholding Russia-related intelligence from the President’s Daily Brief is based on information given to me by an unimpeachable source.

Anthony Scaramucci, founder of the investment firm SkyBridge Capital, gave me a thoughtful tutorial on the brazenness of Russian money laundering that shaped my operation against Kremlin Inc. Obviously, the mistakes and dramatic license are mine, not his. Bob Woodward was a source of both information and inspiration. His matchless reporting and writing on the final, chaotic year of the Trump presidency undoubtedly changed the course of history.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner, the director of cardiac catheterization at George Washington University and a CNN medical analyst, took time out of his busy schedule to treat Sarah Bancroft for exposure to a deadly Russian nerve agent, and Gabriel Allon for a cavernous through-and-through gunshot wound near his heart. CNN political director David Chalian graciously checked my election-related copy for accuracy, and David Bull reviewed those portions of the story involving the discovery, sale, and restoration of my fictitious painting by Artemisia Gentileschi. One of the world’s finest art conservators, David would have been a much better choice for the project than Gabriel, who, after all, was simultaneously running an operation and an intelligence service.

I consulted hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles, far too many to cite here, along with dozens of books. I would be remiss if I did not mention the following: Steven Lee Myers, The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin; Masha Gessen, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin; Anders Åslund, Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy; Karen Dawisha, Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?; Luke Harding, Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem, and Russia’s Remaking of the West; Bill Browder, Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice; David Enrich, Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction; and Craig Unger, House of Trump, House of Putin: The Untold Story of Donald Trump and the Russian Mafia.

My dear friend Louis Toscano, author of Triple Cross and Mary Bloom, made countless improvements to the novel, and my eagle-eyed personal copy editor, Kathy Crosby, made certain it was free of typographical and grammatical errors. Any mistakes that slipped through their formidable defenses are mine, not theirs.

I owe a debt to Michael Gendler, my Los Angeles superlawyer, that I cannot possibly repay. Also, to the many friends who provide much-needed laughter at critical times during the writing year, especially Jeff Zucker, Phil Griffin, Andrew Lack, Noah Oppenheim, Andy Lassner, Sally Quinn, Elsa Walsh, Peggy Noonan, Susan St. James and Dick Ebersol, Jane and Burt Bacharach, Stacey and Henry Winkler, Donna and Michael Bass, Virginia Moseley and Tom Nides, Nancy Dubuc and Michael Kizilbash, Susanna Aaron and Gary Ginsburg, Cindi and Mitchell Berger, Marie Brenner and Ernie Pomerantz, and Liz Cheney and Phil Perry.

A heartfelt thanks to the remarkable team at HarperCollins, especially Brian Murray, Jonathan Burnham, Jennifer Barth, David Koral, Leah Wasielewski, Leslie Cohen, Doug Jones, Josh Marwell, Mark Ferguson, Robin Bilardello, Milan Bozic, Frank Albanese, Leah Carlson-Stanisic, Carolyn Bodkin, Chantal Restivo-Alessi, Julianna Wojcik, Mark Meneses, Sarah Ried, Beth Silfin, Lisa Erickson, and Amy Baker.

Finally, I am grateful for the love and support of my children, Lily and Nicholas. Their resolve and determination in the face of a world turned upside down was a source of inspiration, as was the bravery of the police officers who fought to defend our Capitol on January 6, 2021. Writing a novel seemed a rather trivial pursuit by comparison.