How prescient it is that The Persian would arrive on my doorstep the very week that Israel bombed Iran. I watched the news in disbelief and then opened this novel to find it all the more believable.
We are reading the story of Kam Esfahani’s tortured experience, documented in prison with the blue crayons and stacks of paper the General has provided. He knows not where he is. But, he does know that crayons are less likely to be used as a weapon, even though he contemplates thrusting one through his own eye into his brain. He does know that he must not speak until he is spoken to, and that the General has not been satisfied with the drafts of the story that Kam has produced the past three years of his imprisonment. He chooses the sharpest crayon with care and begins yet again.
Kam is a dentist, living in Sweden. But, he is not Swiss. He is a Persian Jew, recruited by Arik Glitzman to work for the Mossad. Glitzman is Chief of the Mossad’s Caesarea Division, responsible for target killings, cyberattacks, and sabotage in Iran. Why would Kam agree to a proposition involving the capture of Colonel Jaffar Ghorbani? Because he longs to escape Sweden. He longs for a home in California, which he will be able to obtain with the money he earns as a spy.
Is it worth the danger?
That is a decision each man must make for himself. What are we willing to die for? Courage? Culture? Love? Our own integrity? Maybe Kam also longs to prove that he is something more daring than a dentist could ever be. Maybe the ties between being a spy and being emotionally involved with Roya, a Persian widow and her daughter, are irrevocably intertwined.
I know that I read long into the night, unconscious of turning each page, as McCloskey’s writing is exquisite. You can keep John le Carre, and maybe even Mick Herron. I deem McCloskey the better writer, for the way he is able to build tension so eloquently. For the picture he portrays of a man brave beyond measure, and two countries which may never find peace.
(Thank you to W. W. Norton for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Persian, which will be published on September 30, 2025.)
If you like electrifying films or books like The Day of the Jackal, Ungentlemanly Warfare or The Courier, why not forget about fictional agents like Bond and Bourne dashing to save the world from disaster? Why not forget about CIA and MI6 officers reclining on their couches dreaming up espionage scenarios to thrill you?
ReplyDeleteCheck out what a real MI6 and CIA secret agent does nowadays. Why not browse through TheBurlingtonFiles website at https://theburlingtonfiles.org and read about Bill Fairclough's escapades when he was an active MI6 and CIA agent? The website is rather like an espionage museum without an admission fee ... and no adverts.
You’ll soon be immersed in a whole new world you won't want to exit. Shame no one has released any films yet based upon TheBurlingtonFiles but that may change – see our Film Pitch about The Spy Who Would Not Die at https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2025.04.21.php.
Then browse through https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2023_06.07.php and https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2022.10.31.php and don’t miss the most recent news articles including the contrast twixt the fictional James Bond and a real secret agent at https://theburlingtonfiles.org/news_2024.09.13.php.
After that experience you may not know who to trust so best read Beyond Enkription, the first novel in The Burlington Files series. It's a noir fact based spy thriller that may shock you. What is interesting is that this book is apparently mandatory reading in some countries’ intelligence agencies' induction programs. Why? Maybe because the book is not only realistic but has been heralded by those who should know as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”.
It is an enthralling read as long as you don’t expect fictional agents like Ian Fleming's incredible 007 to save mankind or John le Carré’s couch potato yet illustrious Smiley to send you to sleep with his delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots.
Normally, I delete comments which are an advertisement…however, you have intrigued me with this comment. If you wish to send me a copy of Beyond Enkription, I would be willing to read and review it here. Contact information is in my profile.
Deleteoh wow, the timing, sadly!
ReplyDeleteC’est vraiment incroyable !
ReplyDelete