The Persian - Hardcover

by David McCloskey (Author)

Kamran Esfahani, a dentist living out a dreary existence in Stockholm, agrees to spy for the Mossad after he's recruited by Arik Glitzman, the chief of a clandestine unit tasked with running targeted assassinations and sabotage inside Iran. At Glitzman's direction, Kam returns to his native Tehran and opens a dental practice there, using it as a cover for the Israeli intelligence agency. Kam proves to be a skillful asset, quietly earning money helping Glitzman smuggle weapons, run surveillance, and conduct kidnappings. But when Kam tries to recruit an Iranian widow seeking to avenge the death of her husband at the hands of the Mossad, the operation goes terribly wrong, landing him in prison under the watchful eye of a sadistic officer whom he knows only as the "General."

And now, after enduring three years of torture in captivity, Kamran Esfahani sits in an interrogation room across from the General, preparing to write his final confession.

Kam knows it is too late to save himself. But he has managed to keep one secret--only one--and he just might be able to save that. In this haunting thriller, careening between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Istanbul and Stockholm, David McCloskey delivers an intricate story of vengeance, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies.

Back Jacket

Praise for David McCloskey

THE SEVENTH FLOOR

"[A] terrific espionage series."
-- Sarah Lyall, New York Times Book Review

"A rare combination of experience and talent."
-- Mick Herron, author of The Secret Hours and the Slough House series

MOSCOW X

"A gripping read . . . leavened with dry, poetic wit."
-- Adam LeBor, Financial Times

"A jaw-dropper from start to finish. David McCloskey is the new John le Carr?."
-- Brad Thor, author of Edge of Honor

DAMASCUS STATION

"A propulsive thriller [that] is, at once, a master class in spy craft and a poignant story of forbidden love set during the brutal Syrian civil war."
-- People

"Of the contemporary heirs to Fleming, David McCloskey is the most readable and exciting. A former CIA analyst, Mr. McCloskey writes novels that bristle with tradecraft and gadgets."
-- Economist

"A gripping, well-written page turner that is part-thriller, part-love story, part-spy tale, and part-historical fiction. . . . Any one of those elements on their own makes it well worth reading; the combination makes it compelling."
-- Foreign Policy

"The best spy novel I have ever read."
-- General David Petraeus, former director of the CIA