The Persian

'A superb and compelling espionage drama inside the Iran Israel shadow war by the top spy thrillerist of these wild turbulent times' Simon Sebag Montefiore

'A great spy writer' Tim Shipman

What happens when a spy is forced to reckon with the consequences of his deception?

Kamran Esfahani, a Persian Jewish dentist from Stockholm, dreams of starting afresh in California. To finance his new life, he agrees to spy for Mossad in Iran, working with a clandestine unit tasked with sowing chaos and sabotage inside the country. When he’s captured by Iranian security forces, Kamran is compelled to confess his experiences as a spy, in a testimonial dealing not only with the security of nations, but also with revenge, deceit, and the power of love and forgiveness in a world of lies.

Mixing suspense with strikingly cinematic action, David McCloskey takes readers deep into the shadow war between Iran and Israel, delivering propulsive storytelling and riveting tradecraft.

David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst who worked in field stations across the Middle East and briefed senior White House officials and Arab royalty. His first novel, Damascus Station, was called ‘one of the best spy thrillers in years’ by The Times; his second, Moscow X, was a Sunday Times Thriller of the Year. His third, The Seventh Floor, was a Sunday Times bestseller, as was his fourth, The Persian. He is the co-host of the podcast The Rest is Classified, and lives in Texas.