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DAMASCUS STATION

damascus_station_bk_mx damascus_station_bk_ds damascus_station_bk_tsf
 
Full Name: Damascus Station
Nationality: American
Organization: CIA
Occupation Agency

Creator: David McCloskey
Time Span: 2021 - 2024

ABOUT THE SERIES

Damascus Station is a field office of the CIA.

The concept of a station, such as the one devoted to the Syrian capital, serving as the focal point for a series of espionage-related adventures is a very unique one for this compendium. The station is located in the actual city of Damascus for the first adventure but then, due to events in that story, it gets moved to Amman, Jordan. Regardless of what country the physical location of the operations is housed, the emphasis of the station is Syria.

At the time of the activities we follow in these adventures, Syria is of particular interest to the security of the United States due in large part to ISIS. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a Salafi jihadist group of extremists born out of the chaos left after the Second Gulf War. The removal of Iraq's dictator, Saddam Hussein, and the weakening of Syria's despot, Bashar al-Assad created a vacuum of control and numerous groups banded together for their own goals. ISIS proved to be the deadliest and large regions of both countries fell to it.

That got American Intelligence to pay attention and thus for formation of the station. In the pages of these tales we follow numerous operatives as they strive to obtain valuable insight into what the Syrian government was doing to counter ISIS and other rebels as well as what groups like ISIS were planning to increase their control. Throw in Russian involvement in helping Assad and Chinese interests in the oil beneath the surface and the ever-present danger of terrorism. The people working at the station are kept very busy.

There are several key personnel which are connected to the Station which will play major roles in these adventures, though not all will be in all stories.

The first one to mention [and the one I nearly named this page after] is Artemis Aphrodite Procter (her father was obsessed with Greek mythology). This fascinating woman definitely qualified for membership on her own. "Procter was many things, and one of them was short. She barely scratched five feet. Her black hair, exploding into curls as if she were plugged into an electrical socket, contrasted with her pale, freckled skin. Everything strained and stretched with muscle. Even under the blouse, Sam saw the outlines of the toned arms and the spread of her shoulders. Sam remembered what one of her case officers in Moscow had told him: 'She's a frazzled Energizer Bunny, man. They don't call her he Proctologist for nothing. She's intense. And if you slow down, she'll eat you alive.' Seeing her in action, the reference to a dynamo is definitely warranted.

Then there is Sam Joseph, a highly experienced and capable field operative who not only controls numerous indigenous sources of intel but also puts his own life in constant danger by moving in and around the danger areas collecting the learned information and doing his best to keep his contacts as safe as is possible in an environment where the rumor of disloyalty can get one instantly eliminated.

There are a few more motivated and fascinating people whose exploits we are allowed to follow. Damascus Station is a very active place to work.

BOOKS

Number of Books:3
First Appearance:2021
Last Appearance:2024

1 Damascus Station Damascus Station
Written by David McCloskey
Copyright: 2021

"CIA case officer Sam Joseph is dispatched to Paris to recruit Syrian Palace official Mariam Haddad. The two fall into a forbidden relationship, which supercharges Haddad’s recruitment and creates unspeakable danger when they enter Damascus to find the man responsible for the disappearance of an American spy.
But the cat and mouse chase for the killer soon leads to a trail of high-profile assassinations and the discovery of a dark secret at the heart of the Syrian regime, bringing the pair under the all-seeing eyes of Assad’s spy catcher, Ali Hassan, and his brother Rustum, the head of the feared Republican Guard."
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2 Moscow X Moscow X
Written by David McCloskey
Copyright: 2023

"CIA officers Sia and Max enter Russia under commercial cover to recruit Vladimir Putin’s moneyman. Sia works for a London law firm that conceals the wealth of the superrich. Max’s family business in Mexico—a CIA front since the 1960s—is a farm that breeds high-end racehorses. They pose as a couple to target Vadim, Putin’s private banker, and his wife, Anna, who—unbeknownst to CIA—is a Russian intelligence officer under deep cover at the bank. As they descend further into a Russian world dripping with luxury and rife with gangland violence, Sia and Max’s only hope may be Anna, who is playing a game of her own."
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3 The Seventh Floor The Seventh Floor
Written by David McCloskey
Copyright: 2024

"A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, operational chief Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat for the disaster and run out of the service. Months later, Sam appears at Procter’s doorstep with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole burrowed deep within the highest ranks of the CIA."
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MY COMMENTS

What a pleasure it is to come across a series as rich and flavorful as this series by CIA-trained David McCloskey. I have no idea how much of the life depicted in the books of this series was based on things that he experienced or heard about. I just know that the way he writes of the events we follow in these pages put us on those dangerous streets or in those dark alleys or in the offices where the people working there strive to get the intel back to the States in such a way that the powers-that-be can understand.

The language of many of the people (I'm looking at you, Artemis) is extremely colorful (to be polite) and totally realistic (I've known plenty of such talkers, myself included). The suspense and the action comes across as totally believable and authentic.

These are terrific reads and I hope the author will continue to give us more excursions into the lives of the people in and around the Station.

GRADE

My Grade: A

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