London Station by David McCloskey

Published by W. W. Norton & Company on September 29, 2026

Some of the most interesting spy novels expose the ineptness of political hacks who substitute their questionable judgment for that of career intelligence professionals. London Station imagines that a far-right American president has placed “a businessman with zero intelligence or national security experience” in charge of the CIA.

Bobby Jerome was running a family business, B.J. Lenore, “the largest residential homebuilder in the United States,” before the president made him director of the CIA. Jerome brings in two former B.J. Lenore executives: Harry Kellman as Deputy Director of Operations and Stu Bricker, “a slave-driving workaholic,” as Special Assistant to the DDO.

Like many arrogant political appointees who lack experience with the government, the home builders don’t understand the difference between operating a business for profit and operating a government agency for the nation’s good. But like many such appointees, they understand the concept of self-enrichment. All that gives London Station a timely feel.

The president believes that America’s allies are taking advantage of the US (sound familiar?) in their intelligence sharing. Adopting the president’s disdain for “globalism” (meaning cooperation with allies) and his philosophy that bullying is the best solution to every problem, Jerome tells the head of the Secret Intelligence Service that Britain “is taking advantage of the American taxpayer” by “freeloading” because the US contributes more intelligence than Britain, and “we can’t just keep on allowing this, can we? What sort of country allows itself to be picked apart by smaller, weaker countries?” To the surprise of no reader who pays attention to international affairs, alienating America’s allies turns out to be a bad strategy for governance.

The novel opens with CIA agent Artemis Aphrodite Procter trying to enlist a Chinese asset on British soil. In breach of protocol, she doesn’t alert the SIS of her plan and in fact pretends to be an SIS agent. Procter is embarrassed when, after her overture is rejected, she is arrested when her disguise falls off in a collision with a bicycle.

As Procter awaits her discipline, Ollie Welch, the SIS Head of Station in Tehran, urgently requests American assistance in exfiltrating a Persian agent and his ten-year-old son before the agent, codenamed WINSTON, can be killed by the Revolutionary Guard. The CIA’s Chief of Station in London, Charlie Clare, wants to follow the tradition of approving such requests, but he’s overridden — and then fired — by Jerome to make a point that Americans won’t be told what to do by the British. Things do not go well for WINSTON or for Welch when their expected exfil assistance fails to materialize.

To stick his thumb in the eye of SIS, Jerome installs Procter — the woman who just got herself arrested for conducting unauthorized spying in London — as the new Chief of Station in London. Proctor would rather be conducting operations than overseeing them but taking the promotion is marginally better than losing her job.

The novel’s other key player is Hubert Hamro. He runs Mimir, a private intelligence firm, for its billionaire owner. The president is a fan of privatization so Mimir expects to do well under his administration. Hamro pitches a disgruntled Ollie Welch on joining Mimir but Ollie has his own plans.

Much of the novel sets up the conflicts that will erupt among the major characters. The plot pits the US and British intelligence services against each other as they neglect their mutual enemies. Someone has acquired the identities of various assets in China and is selling the information to the highest bidder. It’s up to Procter to identify the villain. It isn’t much of a spoiler to note that inept political hacks are at the heart of the problem.

London Station benefits from strong characterization. Procter — a protagonist in two earlier novels — is smart, resilient, and devious. Her lust for field work sets up convincing inner turmoil when she’s given a desk job, while her foul mouth and cantankerous attitude make her an ideal character to pit against bureaucrats.

I wasn’t particularly convinced that a lower-level spy would — with no clear motivation — steal secrets from an SIS laptop or reveal secrets to her (non-SIS-approved) therapist, but accepting that plot element is the price of enjoying the story. In most other respects, the plot is credible. The story moves quickly despite the political machinations in which the large cast of characters indulge.

If for no other reason, I would recommend London Station for its tweaking of far-right antipathy to globalism and the inevitable corruption that occurs when business leaders with no government experience are given the keys to America’s treasury. That David McCloskey manages to tell an engaging story while illustrating those points solidifies my recommendation.

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Damascus Station by David McCloskey

Publsihed by ‎ W. W. Norton & Company on October 5, 2021

Damascus Station does what a spy thriller should do. It engages the imagination with tradecraft, appeals to the intellect with political intrigue, and excites the senses with action scenes. Some of the action takes place in the bedroom (or other convenient locations). More violent scenes play out in the streets and buildings of Damascus.

Much of the story takes place in Syria, where a brutal dictatorship is fighting a war against rebels. Samuel Joseph works for the CIA. His Levantine Arabic is flawless. He begins the novel in Damascus, where he has been sent to exfiltrate an asset, as well as Val Owens, the asset’s handler who is in Syria under diplomatic cover. The mission does not go well, particularly for Val.

A well-educated woman named Miriam, a Syrian general’s daughter, secretly opposes the government that employs her. Miriam’s cousin Razan makes no effort to hide her disdain for the Syrian president. She gets away with it because her father has a position in the government that allows him to shield her.

Sam is sent to Paris, where Miriam is attempting to coerce a brave Syrian woman into returning to Syria and renouncing her criticism of the Syrian regime. Miriam must threaten harm to the woman’s family to carry out her mission, threats that cause her to despise herself. Sam’s task is to recruit Miriam as a double agent for the CIA. The task is easy to accomplish, both because Miriam hates the ruling regime and because she feels an immediate sexual attraction to Sam. The rules prohibit Sam from acting on that attraction, but rules have never stopped fictional spies from hopping into bed with assets. Sam puts his career at risk and, as is the custom in novels of this nature, falls in love with Miriam.

Miriam is the kind of character a reader might love, as well. She’s intelligent, a fierce warrior, and willing to take risks to fight the leaders she serves. Sam is your prototypical spy, stalwart and loyal and an all-around good guy apart from his inability to keep it in his pants. My favorite character might be the tough chief of station in Damascus. She’s vulgar, lethal with a shotgun, and proclaims herself (with some justification) to be the Angel of Death.

The plot takes Sam to Damascus, where he follows Miriam as her handler, using the usual diplomatic cover for his spying. Spy novels are all about betrayal, and the time comes when Sam must question whether Miriam is playing him. That’s the kind of plot point that makes espionage novels so addictive.

Word gets the US that the Syrian president intends to use sarin gas to wipe out a city in rebellion. That’s a step too far for the US, as is the capture and beheading of an American. The US intends a targeted assassination in retribution for the murder and selective bombing to prevent the use of sarin. The story eventually brings the US and Syria to the brink (or slightly over the brink) of war. By the end, Sam and Miriam are both in peril. Quick thinking and sacrifice offers the only hope of averting disaster.

The story features the usual tradecraft — a good thing, because tradecraft establishes a spy novel’s identity — including dead drops and (perhaps too many) surveillance detection routes, all taught to Miriam in a frenzy. The theme of a spy breaking the rules by getting sexually involved with a source that he’s running is familiar, but it’s a credible theme that works well in the context of the story. The action scenes in the novel’s second half justify the novel’s categorization as a thriller. The balance between action, political intrigue, and relationship drama is just about perfect. And the ending, without being artificially happy, is at least hopeful.

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