Other details jump out at the reader as well, and I had to ask him about a few of them. True or false? Stuffed with insider insights … It reveals some top-notch intelligence tradecraft’ – Tim Shipman, Sunday Times 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. 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. (Oct.) Publishers Weekly

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 A] swift dive into the lethal, nebulous world of CIA operations in the Middle East… Damascus Station is a breathless ride." SpyTalkQ: The bipolar nature of the Agency never ceased to amaze: CIA had the ability to find and kill a person in the remote Hindu Kush, and on the other hand he couldn’t find a working stapler at Langley.

The rebels are planning a spectacular last-ditch effort to turn the tide. The Mossad is getting restless. The Russians have been called in. Sam Joseph has a strategy, but since it includes withholding a lot of information from his own station chief, it is beginning to seem questionable at best. Good tradecraft is important – but what if the other side’s is better? If I could give this book a zero, I would. As a Syrian Christian myself, I am utterly disappointed with how McCloskey’s world-building and cultural sensitivity stopped at a smattering of Arabic slang and stereotypes that cater to harmful perspectives held by some of his Western audience. Superb breathlessly gripping thrilling & truly terrifying, written in unadorned style by an CIA agent, almost real in its details of CIA espionage in Syria, savage feuds within Assad palace, intrigues of Mideast. Highly recommended' - Simon Sebag MontefioreQ: Sam tells Mariam about a handler who used a taxidermied cat as a dead drop, “The agent would stuff papers and messages in a compartment that had once held intestines.” 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' - Alma Katsu, author of Red Widow and former CIA and NSA analyst

Damascus Station is 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. DAZZLING DEBUT STEMS FROM DISTINCT EXPERIENCES Damascus Station is simply marvellous storytelling...a stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." Financial Times I’m an avid reader of the genre and I am sure many of its leading lights have influenced me in some way: le Carré, McCarry, Deighton, Clancy, Greene, Cruz Smith, Higgins, Forsyth, the list could go on. More recently people like David Ignatius, Jason Matthews, Daniel Silva and Alex Berenson come to mind. One aspect of the genre — though by no means important to every author writing in it — that has influenced my work is the tension between moral clarity and moral ambiguity permeating so much of the intelligence business. I love stories that have good guys and bad guys while at the same time entertaining the gray areas. I like the complexity and the ambiguity that come with the intrigue, and I hope to carry that through in my novels.” A thrilling portrayal of espionage, love and betrayal… utterly brilliant& guaranteed to keep you pinned to your sunlounger’– Dorset Magazine

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I had one final question for McCloskey. During his time covering Syria, did his views about the country and the global response to the war change in any way? The author is a former CIA analyst and his knowledge is all over this superb debut spy thriller … full of the paranoia, tedium and terror of spying’ – The Sun

Damascus Station is simply marvelous storytelling.…[A] stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre." — Financial Times Damascus Station is simply marvellous storytelling...a stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre' - Financial Times

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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. A: True. The censors wouldn’t let me put the real-life ones in here, many of which are more insane than Sam’s.” Damascus Station is simply marvellous storytelling… a stand-out thriller and essential reading for fans of the genre’– Financial Times McCloskey’s next book is another spy novel, centered on the next stage of the U.S.-Russia spy war: “It’s not a sequel to Damascus Station , but it’s in the same universe, so some characters will reappear.” It is a dazzling debut and comes from a place of great personal knowledge. McCloskey himself covered Syria as a CIA analyst from 2008 to 2014, living and working in field stations throughout the region and briefing officials in Washington.