Istanbul Passage: A Novel

Summary

From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Stardust, The Good German, and LosAlamos—a gripping tale of an American undercover agent in 1945 Istanbul whodescends into the murky cat-and-mouse world of compromise and betrayal thatwill come to define the entire post-war era.

A neutral capital straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul hasspent the war as a magnet for refugees and spies. Even American businessmanLeon Bauer has been drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs andcourier runs for the Allied war effort. Now as the espionage community beginsto pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of post-warlife, he is given one more assignment, a routine job that goes fatally wrong,plunging him into a tangle of intrigue and moral confusion.

Played out against the bazaars and mosques and fadedmansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Leon’s attempt to save one lifeleads to a desperate manhunt and a maze of shifting loyalties that threatenshis own. How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to make?Istanbul Passage is the story of a man swept up in the aftermath of war, anunexpected love affair, and a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters ofthe Bosphorus that divides it.

Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Joseph Kanon’slatest novel flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller aboutthe dawn of the Cold War, once again proving why Kanon has been hailed as the “heirapparent to Graham Greene” (Boston Globe).