Holm & Da Silva Books in Order

The Holm & Da Silva books move Mark Sennen from police procedural into modern espionage, but they keep the same taste for pressure, moral mess, and people working under impossible strain. At the center are Stephen Holm, an MI5 intelligence analyst, and Rebecca da Silva, a former British special forces sniper. They do not begin as a ready-made duo. Part of the series' appeal is watching two very different people get pulled onto the same dangerous track.

They are an odd match.

Holm is thoughtful, experienced, and used to fighting from behind a desk, with information, pattern-spotting, and patience. Da Silva is far more direct. She has combat skills, field instinct, and a past that still hurts. Sennen uses that contrast well. Holm sees networks and consequences, while Da Silva sees what has to be done right now. When the books bring them together, the friction helps as much as it complicates things.

In The Sanction, the two leads start from separate crises linked to Taher, a terrorist so elusive that some people in MI5 doubt he is even real. A deadly attack in Tunisia sends both characters on intersecting paths, one driven by obsession, the other by revenge, and the story widens from personal danger to high-level political stakes. The first book spends time building both halves of the partnership before finally snapping them into place.

By Rogue Target, that connection is tested under much greater pressure. A passenger jet is destroyed after taking off from Heathrow, surface-to-air missiles are in play, and Taher is no longer a distant threat. Holm is pushed to stop a national disaster, while Da Silva is drawn in through what looks like a routine overseas job and turns into something far more dangerous. The second book feels broader, faster, and more openly action-driven, but it still leaves room for tradecraft, bureaucracy, and betrayal.

Trust is always in short supply.

These are spy thrillers, but not glossy fantasy versions of espionage. Sennen keeps the violence grounded and the politics messy. Bad calls made in offices can be just as dangerous as bullets in the field. If you like stories that mix intelligence work, counterterror operations, international settings, and a pair of leads who earn their partnership the hard way, this series is a solid place to start. Read The Sanction before Rogue Target, because the relationship between Holm and Da Silva is part of the story.