David McCloskey’s spy thriller, The Persian, has the structure and pacing of an eight part made-for-television series akin to Homeland, or the Israeli version, Prisoners of War.

Kam is a Swedish dentist born in Iran. He is also a Jew, which makes him an obvious candidate to work as a Mossad asset in Tehran. At the end of what was to be his final operation, Kam is arrested, tortured and forced to write his ‘confession’, narrating in detail his work for Israel’s intelligence organisation. He expects to be executed when his jailers finish their work.

Via Kam’s confession the reader learns what led him to his jail cell. Iranian spies kill Israeli spies, and vice versa. Of course, usually there is ‘collateral damage’ as well. Prior to becoming an author, McCloskey was a CIA analyst. This, and his detailed research, grants serious credibility to his descriptions of the spy-craft.

The Persian is well balanced, in that there is plenty of action, but sufficient character development to satisfy readers who want a bit more from a spy novel. The story is remarkably contemporary, connecting with the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Escapism typically requires some distance from historical events and so readers who pay close attention to news from the Middle East may find this tale, at times, a little close to the bone.

But McCloskey does know how to tell a story. We are sometimes told that the games spies play are necessary so that the rest of us can be free to live our lives. It’s an idea, perhaps, McCloskey is asking the reader to interrogate.

Book review by Peter Hodge

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David McCloskey is the Sunday Times-bestselling author of The Seventh Floor, Moscow X, and Damascus Station. He is co-host of the podcast “The Rest is Classified.”

David is a former CIA analyst and former consultant at McKinsey & Company. While at the CIA, he wrote regularly for the President’s Daily Brief, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and briefed senior White House officials, Ambassadors, military officials, and Arab royalty.

He worked in CIA field stations across the Middle East throughout the Arab Spring and conducted a rotation in the Counterterrorism Center focused on the jihad in Syria and Iraq. During his time at McKinsey, David advised national security, aerospace, and transportation clients on a range of strategic and operational issues.

David holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, where he specialized in energy policy and the Middle East.

He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.

Visit David McCloskey’s website