Finalist for the 2022 ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel
"Damascus Station is simply marvelous storytelling....[A] stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." —Financial Times
A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in war-ravaged Damascus to hunt for a killer in this page-turner that offers the "most authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in print." (Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr).
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad's spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.
Finalist for the 2022 ITW Thriller Award for Best First Novel
"Damascus Station is simply marvelous storytelling....[A] stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." —Financial Times
A CIA officer and his recruit arrive in war-ravaged Damascus to hunt for a killer in this page-turner that offers the "most authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in print." (Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr).
CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad's recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad's spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard. Set against the backdrop of a Syria pulsing with fear and rebellion, Damascus Station is a gripping thriller that offers a textured portrayal of espionage, love, loyalty, and betrayal in one of the most difficult CIA assignments on the planet.
Reviews-
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Starred review from August 2, 2021
CIA case officer Sam Joseph, the hero of former CIA analyst McCloskey’s exhilarating debut, aims to recruit Mariam Haddad, an official who works at Damascus’s Syrian Palace, in Paris. At a diplomatic party, Sam rescues Mariam, who’s part of a Syrian government delegation, from the unwanted attentions of another guest, and they agree to meet for a drink the next evening. Mariam becomes a CIA asset, Sam teaches her the tradecraft she needs to operate without detection under the watchful eyes of her palace superiors, and they begin an illicit love affair. Sam follows Mariam to Damascus, where the plan is to hunt down a brutal pair of brothers, palace officials who kidnapped and killed an American spy. Their mission expands to deal with a larger threat. 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. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, ICM/Sagalyn. -
August 1, 2021
In his first novel, former CIA analyst McCloskey tackles the Syrian civil war in all its complexity, awash in unspeakable violence and tragedy, ""binding families and sects and ethnicities together in opposition to everyone else."" Reeling from his failure to exfiltrate a fellow agent from Syria, CIA operative Sam Joseph returns to Damascus, charged with recruiting Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad as a double agent. Alarm bells clang when Sam violates a cardinal rule of espionage: don't fall in love with your would-be asset. Using his own experience to great advantage, McCloskey vividly details multiple aspects of tradecraft, including the elaborate rituals employed to detect and avoid surveillance. The human side of the story is equally well developed--not only the verboten romance, but also the textured portrayals of various supporting characters, especially Syrian counterintelligence chief Ali Hassan, Mariam's uncle, who emerges as a classically tragic figure. There is plenty of evil to go around here on all sides, and McCloskey faces it head-on; explicit torture scenes may be tough for some readers to handle, but they are anything but gratuitous. A strong debut.COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
- General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former director of the CIA, and former commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and International and US Forces in Afghanistan 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.
- David Ignatius, columnist for the Washington Post and author of The Paladin The nightmare of the Syrian civil war is vividly portrayed by David McCloskey in Damascus Station. He captures the places and people—and most of all, the sickening feeling in the gut—of this war that shattered poor Syria while America mostly watched. As a former CIA officer, McCloskey gets the details right—not just the little ones about mistimed clocks on the wall at Headquarters but the big ones about trying to keep faith with people in a faithless business. This isn't just a realistic spy novel, it's real life.
- Washington Post [An] exciting spy thriller.
- Financial Times Damascus Station is simply marvellous storytelling...a stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre.
- Foreign Policy [A] gripping, well-written page turner that is part-thriller, part-love story, part-spy tale, and part-historical fiction concerning Syria and the Arab Spring. Any one of those elements on their own makes it well worth reading; the combination makes it compelling.
- Nick Kristof;On the Trail with Nick Kristof I'm a fan of spy thrillers, and I just read the best one I've consumed in decades .... I've never known a writer as good at the spy novel as John LeCarre, but McCloskey approaches. We're watching the emergence of a remarkable talent.
- Clarissa Ward, CNN chief international correspondent I could not put down McCloskey's gripping spy novel Damascus Station....A must-read for anyone interested in Syria or espionage.
- Diplomatic Courier [T]ruly one of the finest entries into the modern spy thriller genre. In a field groaning with ludicrous plots, absurd characters, and laughable "espionage," McCloskey—a former CIA analyst—has crafted a book that goes back to the roots of what makes a spy thriller great, the spying.
- Neil Nyren;Booktrib An extremely effective modern espionage novel, filled with action and incident but also a profound knowledge of the people and factions of Syria, the complex maneuvers of spycraft, the gray areas, competing egos and overlapping priorities that make every day a journey through the minefield....[A] dazzling debut.
- Best Thriller Books A volatile mix of traditional espionage plotlines intertwined with a modern level of violence that had me flipping pages until the early morning hours.
- First Things [A]n uncommonly gripping first novel....Damascus Station combines an insider's account of tradecraft—detailed enough to satisfy the most demanding geeks—with compassion for the Syrian people, outrage at the Assad regime, and an up-to-the-minute old-fashioned love story.
- The Cipher Brief Damascus Station is a great espionage novel.
- Jack Carr, Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times best-selling author of The Devil's Hand The most realistic and authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in nonpermissive and hostile environments you will find in print. I am shocked the CIA's Publication Review Board allowed David McCloskey's Damascus Station to see the light of day. Read it now, before it is banned!
- Alma Katsu, author of Red Widow and former CIA and NSA analyst For an authentic representation of what it's like to work in intelligence, look no further than Damascus Station. McCloskey has captured it all: the breathtaking close calls, the hand in glove of tech and ops, the heartbreaking disappointments, the thrill of a hard-won victory.
- Karen Cleveland, New York Times best-selling author of Need to Know A sweeping spy thriller packed with tension, twists, and true-to-life detail. There's no doubt that McCloskey is a CIA veteran.
- Leon E. Panetta, former Director of the CIA and former secretary of defense Damascus Station tells the tragic story of Syria's descent into chaos and the price paid by its people during the Assad regime's...
