Damascus Station: The Best Spy Thriller of the Year' THE TIMES: 'The Best Spy Thriller of the Year' THE TIMES from co-host of hit podcast THE REST IS CLASSIFIED (David McCloskey spy thriller, 1) Paperback – 26 Jan. 2023

When I started reading Damascus Station by Mr David McCloskey, it was amidst the accolades and superlatives surrounding the book. I rarely hold much store in hype – it’s an age old tactic to drive up sales. With this in mind, I started to read. I had only devoured a dozen or so chapters, before I realized that this book is worthy of every ounce of praise. It is an astonishing, breath-taking novel. Both shattering in its raw exposition of war-ravaged Syria and uplifting in its undeniable quest to restore belief, trust and faith in a place where such things were forfeit, exchanged to just survive.Mr McCloskey has crafted a superb multi-faceted story. A layering of storylines that meld together seamlessly. A spy story – of securing an asset for vital intelligence capture; a love story – of star-crossed lovers; two-sides that never should mix, a Romeo and Juliet for modern times; a survival story – of the Ikhwan rebels existing against all odds against the brutal onslaught of the Assad war machine and a human story – of familial links, mixed motives, past histories and ultimately, their intrinsic ties to a regime that would ultimately destroy them.At its seemingly torn heart, Damascus Station shows it is still possible to keep the flames of hope burning, when all around is darkness. This reinstatement of hope is embedded within the complex and captivating characters Mr McCloskey has created. The protagonist, Sam Joseph is a CIA case officer with extensive experience in recruiting assets. He is sent to Syria under a none official cover (noc) to assist his fellow officer Val Owens - who’s under official cover as an Officer in the US Embassy – with an exfil of her asset, a chemical scientist Marwan Ghazali. It’s not revealing any spoilers to say the exfil goes sideways, Ghazali never shows, Owens is captured and Sam just makes it out alive. Having lost their key Syrian asset, the search is on to find another quickly. Someone who is well-connected within the Assad regime, but not too high as to cause suspicion. The CIA find a potential target in a mid-level official working in the Palace – Mariam Haddad, and Sam is sent back in to recruit her.Mariam is beautiful, accomplished and fearless, but conflicted in her loyalties. She is torn between her love for Sam versus her love for her hot-headed, impetuous and slightly crazy cousin Razan. Each of them pulling her in a different, often diametrically opposed direction, making decisions and undertaking actions where the ramifications are enormous. Sam, as a well-worn field officer, knows that the route he’s travelling down when he first kissed Mariam. He knew the political maelstrom he would whip up back in Langley, even so, he couldn’t stop. Getting into a relationship with an asset signals immediate disciplinary action and separation from the Agency. He’d had the drilling at the Farm – ‘never get involved emotionally’ – but the heart sometimes rules the head. From the moment that realization of his forbidden love for Mariam hits Sam, his ability to compartmentalize, think rationally and logically, becomes fractured, although throughout the book, Sam tries to convince himself to the contrary.Objective observation by the reader can see that events would have played out very differently had Sam regarded Mariam as just an asset, but nothing more than that. Of course, that story wouldn’t have delivered the outstanding book that Damascus Station is.The backdrop of crumbling Syria – a country steeped in rich heritage, history and culture – literally disintegrating under the weight of constant fighting is jarringly juxtaposed with the vibrancy and opulence of Paris and Villefranche-sur-mer and the stunning, peaceful beauty of Tuscany, and these locations provide the freedom for Sam and Mariam to explore their emotions more fully. It is however, telling that despite the picturesque calm of Tuscany, Mariam still feels the pressure of a heavy hand, crushing her, and only when she engages in the subterfuge demanded of her by the Agency, does that hand eventually release.Albeit all of the antagonists are typically sinister, evil and brutal in their efficient executions of the regime’s law, except for Ali Hassan, Head of the Security in the Palace. His character is portrayed as one of a soldier, doing his duty, despite however ruthless that requires him to be, but there is not a sense of perverse enjoyment, as there is with the others. His brother Rustrum – a savage animal, Jamil Atiyah - an unspeakable pervert and Basil Mahkluf, a sick, scalping-obsessed torturer. In the end, Ali is just as much a victim as those he interrogates. His life and his family wedded inextricably to the rise or fall of the regime.One cannot review Damascus Station without a word on the sheer authenticity and realism of every part of the book. The portrayal of tradecraft is perhaps the best that has ever graced a page. The depiction of the constant threat of the opposition, of keeping alert at all times and the terror of subterfuge in the ranks, whilst balancing the uncomfortableness of economy long haul flights, infuriating bureaucracies and political back-stabbing, removes the gloss of the cool super-spy image, to give insight into reality that is unforgiving, and is only inhabited by the undeniably patriotic and incredibly brave few.The denouement of Damascus Station is satisfying, especially after the phenomenal intensity of the scenes leading up to it, and one that I was so delighted to see. Fitting in every way. I am going to avoid saying highly recommended, in favor of this. If you only read one book this year, let it be Damascus Station. Unforgettable.

I read "Damascus Station" on the advice of a friend who I rate highly. I love international thrillers, and crave really good ones."DS" is well written, and filled to the brim with credible tradecraft and lots of gritty detail about the challenges for intelligence operatives of working in a hostile city such as Damascus. The story moves along well, the Syrian characters are well drawn, and there's an intriguing, plausible climax and ending. I remember quite a bit of the story, a month or two after reading it, which is a big compliment to the author. So definitely worth a look.Why only four stars? Well, I found the first half of the book a little slow. For what felt like long periods, not much happens. This may reflect real life, but I found "Damascus Station" a little too easy to put down, for a really cracking thriller. Despite the convincing tradecraft, I also found a few aspects of the story a bit improbable. That's true of many thrillers, but the fact the book makes a big point of being very realistic meant that those bits jarred a bit.Overall, though, a terrific read and I shall look forward to seeing if "Moscow X" maintains the standard.

Meaningful character development. Good atmosphere and sense of place. Plot seems credible an easy read but not demanding. Holiday reading

This premier novel by David McCloskey has rave reviews not least from Simon Sebag Montefiore. I found it a good read with a sufficiently multi-layered plot to want to keep going to the end. But I didn't find it impossible to put down. In fact the characterisation is weak and I found I didn't care so much what happened to Sam and Mariam for much of the novel because their characters lacked depth. This is also true ot their Syrian counterparts though we do get to know a bit more about Ali's motivations and character. For a long time the story plodded and relied on McCLoskey showing (off?) his knowledge of the workings of the CIA and building IEDs. It also relies on quite graphic depictions of violence that will put some readers off. I don't have a problem with this in itself but the plot needs to be carried by the character of the characters. There are some twists though mostly rather predictable. In the last 80 pages or so the pace certainly picks up and the plot becomes fast moving. But it ends in a way that's sufficiently open to lead into the next volume, which is already available. So an OK spy thriller but doesn't match the master spy writers.

David McCloskey knows his stuff. As a former CIA analyst and someone who clearly has worked in the top echelons of the US government, you'd expect that experience to inform his debut thriller. Where he excels is in writing about the brutally repressive regime in Syria and the consequences this has for the people who live under it. Essentially, Damascus Station is a love story. CIA man Sam Joseph is assigned to recruit an agent in Damascus and ends up falling in love with Mariam - a vividly drawn and totally believable character. Their relationship drives the story, and around this we get to meet the camps on both side of the political divide - the ruthless, gung-ho operatives of the CIA out to defend the interests of the good ole US of A; and on the other the complex characters within Syria, fighting their own battles and struggles in either supporting or opposing the regime they live under.For a debut thriller, McCloskey has produced an impressive page-turner. The characters are believable, and the balance between tradecraft, action sequences and character interactions is done well. Towards the end of the book, the brutal nature of the violence and uprising seems to take the book away from some of the more subtle storytelling that McCloskey lays out earlier in the story, and it also runs on a little bit too long as it edges over 400 pages. But overall, an impressive start, and I will certainly look out for his next one.