David McCloskey
Damascus Station
A CIA asset disappears on the streets of Damascus.
His handler is kidnapped from a safehouse.
Both vanish into a Syrian prison.
The CIA vows revenge.
Before his tour in Damascus, CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Palace official Mariam Haddad. The mission soon transforms into a forbidden love, supercharging her recruitment and creating unspeakable danger as they enter war-ravaged Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearances.
The search soon leads to the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime and brings the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Asad’s spycatcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of Asad’s feared Republican Guard. As the action careens between France, Italy, Syria, and Langley, the predators become prey and loyalties are tested as Sam and Mariam race to stop an apocalypse before the Hassans can hunt them down...
Damascus Station is a spy thriller set in the heart of the Syrian Civil War. Drawing on real events and authentic CIA tradecraft, the novel is a spy vs. spy, cat-and-mouse that takes place on the covert battlefield of clandestine surveillance, mole hunts, and targeted assassinations.
The novel traces the historical swell in violence in Syria, the ubiquitous surveillance of a police state, the proxy fighting between America and Russia, and the darkening promise of freedom in the Middle East. At the frontlines, a CIA case officer, his new recruit, and Asad's spycatcher find themselves locked in a world of violence, betrayal, and hidden loyalties.
Helen Manders manages the translation rights for Damascus Station
Translation Rights Sold
From an exfiltration gone awry to a stunning endgame Damascus Station takes the reader on a breathtaking journey in war torn Syria. McCloskey delivers a thrilling page-turner that is marked by his exceptional understanding of the country and matched by his sophistication in the ways of CIA tradecraft.
former Chief of CIA Middle East Operations and three-time Chief of Station
Damascus Station is the best spy novel I have ever read. David McCloskey experienced Syria first-hand 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.
former Director of the CIA, and former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and International and US Forces in Afghanistan
