Damascus Station by David McCloskey
This is a debut novel and a thriller. I was, initially, a little sniffy about the writing with its bald, beach-read style descriptions of people and places. Well, I was wrong, though not necessarily about that approach, this is a thriller after all; but it is exciting and tense, with the whiff of authenticity about the murky milieu of the intelligence world and the state controlled secret police operations. It also has a moral ambiguity that exposes some of the complexities of global conflicts.
The plot wanders off on some pleasingly byzantine directions but it begins as a straightforward tale of retributions and revenge. The catalyst is the death of an American spy whilst under arrest with the Syrian security services. This is Syria during the early years of the civil war when Assad’s situation is uncertain. The Americans, who still have an ambassadorial presence in Damascus, bring in a CIA agent, Sam Joseph, to assassinate the man responsible for the spy’s death. At the same time, Sam has been working in Paris trying to recruit a Syrian official, Mariam Haddad, who is growing disillusioned by the barbarism displayed by Assad’s government in the face of legitimate calls for reform by different factions in the country.
Sam is successful with Mariam’s recruitment but also breaks the CIA rules by falling in love with her as much as she has fallen in love with him. As Sam and Mariam return to Damascus, the context is fraught with complications and danger – she has to keep secrets from her family and colleagues, and Sam cannot reveal anything about his feelings for Mariam to his colleagues whom he might have to depend in the most dangerous situations when carrying out his state-sanctioned, revenge assassination.
Plot is all in this sort of book. There are some betrayals and twists but most of the time the uncertainties are less to do with deceptive behaviour and more to do with the lengths either side will go to achieve their goals. If you know anything about the Syrian civil war then the despicable lengths Assad will go to are incorporated into this novel. Equally, McCloskey makes it clear that the forces arrayed against Assad’s regime, supported by the Americans, range from decent Syrians, who just want something better, to full on, fundamentalist Jihadis.
The denouement is suitably thrilling and gut-wrenchingly tense. McCloskey, as one might expert because of his background, excels in his depiction of the spy craft of information gathering, blind drops, surveillance, interrogation and torture.
What is equally as engaging, though, is McCloskey’s willingness to dig a little deeper than just an exciting tale of western goodies versus authoritarian middle eastern baddies. Many of the Syrian characters are given room to breathe. We begin to appreciate the terrible situations in which they are placed. They often do not have the luxury of choosing a side when they can be sure that Assad and his henchmen will come after their families. And whilst we are with Sam and his colleagues, McCloskey subtly hints at the ruthlessness of some of the CIA’s methods and the comparison with the Syrian security forces.
Which brings me to the character of Ali Hassan, a former policeman and head of Assad’s counter intelligence unit. The characterisation in the book is sometimes a little patchy, with behaviour much nearer to that of the pulpy caricatures in Bond movies. But when McCloskey gets it right, he can create nuanced, well-rounded and complex characters, with engaging back stories; and with Ali Hassan we get someone who embodies all the ambiguities, humanity and difficult compromises that are exposed by the current context of his benighted homeland.
I would recommend this book as a jolly exciting, page turner read, with just enough complexity and depth, to hint that we might get future books from McCloskey in the Le Carre mould.