Istanbul Passage

A Novel

By: Joseph Kanon

Narrated by: Jefferson Mays

Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

From the acclaimed, best-selling author of Stardust, The Good German, and Los Alamos - a gripping tale of an American undercover agent in 1945 Istanbul who descends into the murky cat-and-mouse world of compromise and betrayal that will come to define the entire postwar era.

A neutral capital straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul has spent the war as a magnet for refugees and spies. Even American businessman Leon Bauer has been drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs and courier runs for the Allied war effort. Now, as the espionage community begins to pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life, 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 faded mansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Leon's attempt to save one life leads to a desperate manhunt and a maze of shifting loyalties that threatens his 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, an unexpected love affair, and a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it.

Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Joseph Kanon's latest novel flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller about the dawn of the Cold War, once again proving why Kanon has been hailed as the "heir apparent to Graham Greene" (The Boston Globe).

©2012 Simon & Schuster; 2012 Joseph Kanon

Critic reviews

" Istanbul Passage bristles with authenticity. Joseph Kanon has a unique and admirable talent: He brilliantly marries suspense and historical fact, wrapping them around a core of pure human drama, while making it seem effortless. This isn't just talent; it's magic." (Olen Steinhauer, New York Times best-selling author of The Tourist)

"Istanbul Passage is a first-rate espionage novel, filled with complexity and thrills, but its greatest success may be in this much more universal literary exploration: how an ordinary man is transformed by extraordinary circumstances." ( Publishers Weekly)

"With dialogue that can go off like gunfire and a streak of nostalgia that feels timeless, this book takes its place among espionage novels as an instant classic." ( Kirkus Reviews)

Narrator destroys the experience

I love anything connected to Turkey but the narrator’s inability to pronounce words correctly is so distracting. I have tried several times to get past this but have had to give up. Sad for an author who has worked hard to create a specific time and environment.

Made myself listen but finally gave up

What would have made Istanbul Passage better?

You'd think with a setting such as Istanbul, this would be an exciting book. Not. I kept making myself listen, but it just didn't captivate me. Sorry.

Boring

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

.

Would you ever listen to anything by Joseph Kanon again?

Probably not

Did Jefferson Mays do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

OK

What character would you cut from Istanbul Passage?

.

Any additional comments?

Not as good as Alan Furst, Martin Cruz Smith, or Eric Ambler. The story drags to a point that I switched to something else