David McCloskey: DAMASCUS STATION

Middle-ranking CIA officer Sam Joseph targets a Syrian woman, Mariam Haddad, as a potential “source”: in Damascus she is close to people who are close to the ruthless President Assad. She is biddable, and he successfully recruits her in Paris, but he hasn’t allowed for the procedural irregularity of falling in love with her, which will have personal and professional consequences for both of them.

The CIA mount an operation to eliminate two murderous brothers who are key players in the fight against the insurgents threatening Assad’s rule. But the brothers are aware that there is a mole in the presidential palace and are plotting to kidnap Sam and torture the mole’s identity out of him.

David McCloskey, a former CIA analyst, makes an impressive debut with a plot worthy of John le Carré and a rugged pacy style that recalls Robert Ludlum. War-torn Syria is vividly captured – especially Damascus, “a pulsing neon heart feeding the country’s gangrenous body.” The torture sequence is vicious enough to make the reader sweat.

Sam’s potty-mouthed female superior is a fun character, like the movie version of James Bond’s Q: “Procter was many things, and one of them was short.” This is a book – and an author – you should add to your must-read list.