Damascus Station: Unmissable New Spy Thriller From Former CIA Officer (Damascus Station, 1)

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David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst … the book is energised by his own experience’– The Times Best Books of 2023 So Far

An exhilarating debut . . . McCloskey portrays the brutal inner functioning of the Assad regime, as well as the CIA’s occasional ineptitude, while detailing such elements of spy craft as avoiding tails, maximizing dead drops, and operating safe houses. Refreshingly, as shown in the relationship between Sam and Mariam, he dares to be sentimental. Espionage fans will eagerly await his next.” Whereas I remain unable to sit through an episode of Homeland or 24, I was impressed and grateful for McCloskey’s ability to integrate just enough reality. One of the best spy thrillers for years … McCloskey is a former CIA analyst who worked in the Middle East. As with le Carré, much of the fascination of his writing comes from his insider’s knowledge of spying’s shadow ballet … Treat yourself to a walk along the Street Called Straight: you won’t find a more compelling guide than David McCloskey’ The Times I think even in a place like Syria where, you know, the regime is horrendous and what it's perpetrated over the past 10 years is hellish and despicable ,” McCloskey said, “... I wanted to capture what would it feel like to be in a position where you're sort of born into this system, and you still have choices and you have some agency. They are making decisions we wouldn't agree with, but what's going on there? And so how do you deal with a situation where you're trying to protect yourself and your family?”

Joseph, the protagonist of former CIA analyst David McCloskey’s exciting spy novel, Damascus Station, is vividly depicted as a real person. He must navigate his own emotions, the accurately captured and ironically rigid government administrative hoops found even in espionage, and the various evil villains hot on his trail. Indeed, not even James Bond would have been able to convince McCloskey’s caricature of a long-in-the-tooth CIA support officer to bump 007 up from economy class on a flight under 14 hours, even at the risk of the world coming to an end. Damascus Station is simply intoxicating. A vortex of love, loyalty, murder and damn good espionage." Don Hepburn McCloskey’s remarkably accomplished debut mixes action, a Romeo and Juliet story and previously undisclosed intelligence about Assad’s regime’– The Times Best Summer Books for 2023 The tension builds as we meet a cross-section of Syrian society, the impoverished, the falsely accused, the torturers themselves who pull out fingernails, then go home from work to play with their children. The tradecraft on display is riveting, far more so than any shoot-out. Running a multi-hour, cross-city surveillance detection route (SDR) is likely thrilling in practice, but does not on first glance make for riveting reading. Yet, McCloskey brings the reader along through every twist and turn, offering a glimpse, albeit incredibly limited, of what it must be like to be an Operations Officer in a hostile environment.

A spy thriller I never would have guessed would be something I would get so into..... And I can't wait.for this to hit stores in October. David you have gained a new reader here! His main character, Samuel Joseph, hews more to the middle of the spectrum between Jason Bourne and George Smiley, and that’s not a bad thing. He is a master of his craft, but possesses a self-awareness and self-reflection that makes him human. His absolutely verboten indiscretion of becoming romantically and physically entangled with his agent Miriam, certainly raises the stakes in the plot. Damascus Station by David was an outstanding read. Honestly I've never read a book with spies before. Damascus Station is simply marvellous storytelling...a stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." Financial Times A truly sensational read! In fact, Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read. David McCloskey experienced Syria firsthand as a CIA analyst, and he delivers a thrilling, graphic, gripping, and realistic—albeit fictional—portrayal of the CIA and the bloody, tragic Syrian uprising. I lived this extraordinarily frustrating episode in Agency history, and I could not put this book down." General David PetraeusA truly sensational read! In fact, Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read. David McCloskey experienced Syria firsthand as a CIA analyst, and he delivers a thrilling, graphic, gripping, and realistic - albeit fictional - portrayal of the CIA and the bloody, tragic Syrian uprising. I lived this extraordinarily frustrating episode in Agency history, and I could not put this book down.” However, what is clear from this novel is that McCloskey has been there, done it and a whole lot more. The intricacies of the story are there for all to see and in the hands of a lesser author they would not play out as well as they do here.

Abandoning the United States ’ red line opened the door for greater Russian and Iranian involvement that strengthened Assad’s hand, solidified his will, and brought years of greater suffering.I remember a rather uncomfortable and awkward August 2013 meeting with a Middle East intelligence service chief whose country was deeply, publicly, and covertly invested in supporting Obama’s call for Assad’s removal. In hindsight, I remain surprised that his goons did not toss me from his office window as I attempted to spin how the United States had, in fact, not abandoned the Syrian people and the United States’ allies. Modern spy story ,full of the high tech requirements needed to be successful in hostile environments.The story is gruesome against a violent and merciless regime . Nobody can possibly come out of this well. The Biden administration has likewise invested in Tice. Its public posture, however, has been more focused on determining his ultimate fate rather than suggesting he might still be alive or his release is still possible. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here.