Why did I love this book?
After I finished reading this, I thought I was qualified to recruit and run sources for the CIA. That's how authentic McCloskey's writing is.
Damascus Station is so detailed that, at times, it seems like you're reading a how-to guide for conducting clandestine operations. Field manuals are as boring and dry as staring at sawdust, and this book is anything but that. McCloskey's tale is full of high-stakes intrigue that keeps you riveted page after page, with anxiety-inducing twists and turns guaranteed to jack up your heart rate while you guess what will happen next.
The intricate weaving of the story's espionage, amplified by the conflicts, desires, and ambitions of fully formed and well-rounded characters, is a game of chess played at the highest level of reality, with no less than countless lives hanging in the balance.
I thoroughly enjoyed the maneuvering between the adversaries as each delved further into their arsenal of tradecraft in order to outsmart and gain supremacy over the other. If you are a fan of spy novels, then Damascus Station is an absolute must.
9 authors picked Damascus Station as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
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…