Photo: Plaque on the western wall of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. The text is from the 36th and 37th verses of the surah of the Light (النور):"36. (It is) in houses which Allah has permitted to be exalted and His name to be remembered therein. Therein do glorify Him, in the mornings and the evenings, 37. Men whom neither merchandise nor selling diverts — from the remembrance of Allah and the keeping up — of prayer and the paying of the poor-rate. [...]"
1/4 Damascus Station: A Novel, by David McCloskey. Hardcover – October 5, 2021
#UNBOUND. The complete, forty-minute interview. December 2021.
"Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read." ―General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA
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." —The Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr.
The CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit a 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.
