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.