Genre:
Thriller
Description:
The
Amazon entry describes it thus:
“In
a last ditch effort to revive his career, washed out agent Ari
Ben-Sion accepts a mission he never would have 30 years ago, to
smuggle a group of Jewish children out of the Damascus ghetto. Or so
he thinks.
In
Damascus, a beautiful American photographer, Kim, seems to be falling
in love with Ari, but she is asking too many questions.
His communication equipment disappears. His contact
never shows up. The operation is only hours away and everything seems
awry. Desperate to succeed, Ari might risk everything. Even his
life.
Feature
film Damascus Cover in theaters 2016 starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers
and
Sir John Hurt.”
In
the new introduction to this edition the author tells us that in its
first incarnation, in 1977, this novel sat in the lower reaches of
the Los Angeles Times best seller list for 10 weeks. This reissue,
self-published by Howard Kaplan in 2014, has obviously been put out
to tie in with the forthcoming film, now apparently due in 2017.
Author:
Howard
Kaplan doesn’t seem to have a website, although he is on Facebook
and Twitter. For present purposes, perhaps the most important thing
to know about him is that he has a little experience of being a spy
and a lot of knowledge about the Middle East. He has lived in
Israel and traveled extensively through Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. He
knows the life of
which he writes.
Appraisal:
This
is an excellent spy thriller. Authors are so often recommended by
publishers as ‘the next John Le Carré’. None of them are, of
course. And attempts at comparison simply weaken the writing of those
who are not. However, Kaplan is (or was), writing gritty spy fiction
which stands genuine comparison with Le Carré circa The
spy who came in from the cold.
I
pride myself on being able to spot a plot twist even if it is
secreted in a bag of fettuccini, but this book wrong-footed me not
once, not twice but thrice. I like to be wrong-footed. Nor did those
cunning plot twists feel remotely strained: as soon as the unexpected
occurred one could see how it was the inevitable result of what had
come before. Thus the book quickly gained a sense of menace: what has
Ari missed? How will it come back to bite him? The spy-protagonist is
no two-dimensional cipher: the reader goes with him into the abyss
created by his own character failings, spiralling down and down, as
shown through the action of the book.
The
settings are Cyprus, Jerusalem and Syria – economically and vividly
drawn. The Middle Eastern setting are topical (despite the book’s
age). Aleppo, Beirut and, of course, Damascus all figure largely and
are described at a time when they were still beautiful,
multi-cultural cities.
The
new introduction gives some insight into what has occurred in the
Middle East since 1977, but it is not really sufficient for those of
us whose knowledge of Middle Eastern politics and wars since 1948 may
not be deep or recent. To enjoy this fully it will repay a quick and
dirty Google of the main dates and conflicts in the area (there are
quite a few) so as to have at least The Six Day War and the Yom
Kippur War clear in your mind. This link may be of assistance.
FYI:
The
prologue and final chapter comprise graphic scenes of torture.
Format/Typo
Issues:
There
are a few typos which could have been put right when the text was
readied for printing this time around. Or perhaps they were
introduced at that point – who can say. They will not spoil your
enjoyment.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: Judi Moore
Approximate
word count: 65-70,000
words
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