David McCloskey

This is a gritty spy novel set in the early days of the still unresolved Syrian civil war. It's the CIA versus the Assad dictatorship. The CIA characters are the good guys and the Syrians are bad and nasty. There's plenty of violence and cruelty on display as the Syrians seem to self-destruct as the story progresses. Sam Joseph, a CIA operative, is the protagonist from whose point of view the story is told. As the story opens Sam is sent to Syria to "exfiltrate" a Syrian defector and a CIA colleague: things do not go well but Sam manages to escape to fight another day. He is assigned to recruit a high-ranking Syrian official, Miriam Haddad, to provide intelligence to the CIA on the Assad regime's plans. This takes Sam back to Damascus via Paris and the south of France, with lots of local colour provided for readers to enjoy.

The story has an authentic feel to it: there's plenty of spy tradecraft on display. There's an annoying use of acronyms, some defined but most are left to the reader to figure out.

A good read for fans of espionage fiction.… (more)

A disappointment after I greatly enjoyed David McCloskey first book Damascus Station. He writes at the end of the book that he finished the draft of the novel right before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it tells. You feel like random aspects of the war have been hastily thrown in (mentions of Zs and the like) but the main story didn't change much. Are we really supposed to sympathize with an unrepentant daughter of the Russian oligarchy? Even before the war in Ukraine, it would be tough. Too much horse breading, too many Bond like villains, and too many errors (nobody has voicemail in Russia, so stop saying the calls went to voicemail!). Proctor was good though, and I liked the opening scene in Tajikistan.… (more)

The first thing you see when you pick up this book is an endorsement from General David Petraeus, ‘The best spy novel I have ever read’. I would like to respectfully suggest that reading-wise General David Petraeus should get out a bit more. Although the ecstatic reception in many of the books pages suggests that perhaps the problem is more with me. Ploughing on: this is intermittently gripping and the climax is riveting, but some of the characterisation lacks the depth and credibility that one would find in both Le Carré or Greene, both of whom have been mentioned as valid comparisons. The writing has also been over-praised. It’s functional more than anything. When McCloskey does attempt to be lyrical or poignant he falters. I could go on - how believable is the central love story? It’s very reminiscent of the one in the brilliant Canal Plus drama by Eric Rochant, 'Le Bureau des Légendes' but it works in that series more than anything because of the fantastic acting and skilful plotting. I didn’t really buy it here.… (more)