Editorial Content for The Persian
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Reviewer (text)
In his latest thriller, THE PERSIAN, former CIA analyst and bestselling author David McCloskey has Kamran Esfahani write his story for his captor, “the General,” while he sits in an Iranian prison.
A Swedish-Jewish dentist of Iranian origins who has become a Mossad operative in Tehran, Kam has been waiting for three years to be killed by his enemies. An unlikely hero, let alone protagonist, Kam explains to his audience of one (and his readers) how he decided to leave his home and business to take on the life of a spy. In the process, he reflects on his choices and wonders why he made the ones that got him there. What emerges is his lack of regret.
"THE PERSIAN is a remarkable feat from McCloskey in that it effectively captures every angle of the conflict from both sides."
The steps that led this Persian Jew to Mossad to track down an Iranian intelligence operation that is targeting a group within the Mossad unfold slowly as he retells his story for the General’s perverse pleasure. The confession, or what Kam wishes to admit, becomes the main focus of THE PERSIAN, as well as the characters he meets along the way.
There’s the General, with whom Kam forms a strange bond; Israeli intelligence officer Arik Glitzman, who recruits him and his friend; and Roya, a woman with whom he has a dalliance, even though his colleagues were responsible for her husband’s death.
Much of the novel’s plot focuses on how each side expresses its rage towards the other. Kam, that imperfect protagonist, is the perfect witness to “the futility of revenge” in the chess game of retribution. At one point, a captured Iranian says to Arik, “We do what you’ve done to us,” to which Arik replies, “And I promise you, Colonel, that we’ll do it right back.”
Still, there are moments of respite, as individuals show their loyalty and humanity, living their daily lives outside of the eternal battle to demolish the Other.
THE PERSIAN is a remarkable feat from McCloskey in that it effectively captures every angle of the conflict from both sides.
Teaser
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. But when he 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. And now, after enduring three years of torture in captivity, Kamran Esfahani sits in an interrogation room, 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.
Promo
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. But when he 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. And now, after enduring three years of torture in captivity, Kamran Esfahani sits in an interrogation room, 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.
About the Book
From former CIA analyst and bestselling author David McCloskey, a novel that takes readers deep into the shadow war between Iran and Israel.
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.
Audiobook available, read by Fajer Al-Kaisi
