David McCloskey inherits the John le Carre crown

Brian Hannan of Abbey Books in Paisley takes a look at how David McCloskey has inherited the John le Carre crown

Mick Herron of Slow Horses fame has a challenger in the bid to be recognised as the best contemporary proponent of the espionage thriller crown. John le Carre became a huge international bestseller with books like The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His books as easily made the transition to movies (Richard Burton as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Pierce Brosnan as The Tailor of Panama, Sean Connery headlining The Russia House).Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and now The Night Manager took television by storm. Mick Herron has also won a bigger audience via television.

But there is a distinct difference between John le Carre and Herron. John le Carre was a spy and Mick Herron was not and that gave the former’s books a reality and grounding that the latter could not emulate.

David McCloskey falls into the John le Carre category and it shows. A former CIA man who worked in the Middle East, his books are full of the “tradecraft” that made John le Carre such a terrific read. After reading his debut Damascus Station I was so smitten I went out and bought the next three, including the latest, The Persian, just out in hardback.

In McCloskey’s world, agents live lives wrought with tension, tasked with impossible outcomes, human flaw murking the waters. In Damascus Station, spies on opposing sides fall in love and eventually betray each other. The purpose of CIA outfit Moscow X is to go on the offensive, disrupt Russia and cause as much chaos as possible without actually going to war. In The Seventh Floor, in an acknowledged nod to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the two main characters from the two previous novels, both in disgrace for failings in the field, search for a mole at the top of the CIA.

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Sam Joseph and Artemis Procter are characters to die for, so well-drawn and believable. Sam has been recruited from the poker tables of Las Vegas, Artemis, shotgun at her side in the office contrary to all regulations, has as much fun with mischief-making among her colleagues as she does with the enemy. And the enemy – various Russians and Middle Eastern characters – don’t take such attacks lying down, are constantly giving as good as they get. The Americans don’t always win and are often thoroughly routed by superior intelligence.

Equally, each side employs idiots or pen-pushers seeking advancement at the expense of field officers. The Russians hire an American couple, dedicated to the Russian cause, to kill Artemis. The wife is known for her skill with a rifle. But for reasons best known to themselves, the couple decide to use a bomb, with desperate results. But the woman also has skills of the honey-trap variety and she finally, more easily, gets revenge.

A CIA high-up shoots himself through the foot when on a mission to not just have an excuse to stay out of the line of fire but also to gain a medal awarded to agents wounded in battle.

The books delve much deeper than John le Carre into the modern world of espionage, and although there is still a reliance on face-to-face recruitment and clandestine meetings, and “reptile” funds – unlimited cash available to exploit advantage – the minutiae of technology is much more to the fore. And for that matter if you want to learn the art of alligator-wrestling, this one is for you.

Damascus Station, Moscow X and The Seventh Floor by David McCloskey are available in paperback (you might be lucky enough to get them from Abbey Books secondhand) and The Persian in hardback.