Cover image of "The Persian," a novel that is spy fiction at its best

Pick up a spy novel in English at random, and chances are it’s about the CIA, the KGB, British intelligence, or some combination of them. But here’s one from former CIA analyst David McCloskey that’s entirely different. The espionage agents in his 2022 novel, The Persian, work exclusively for Israel’s Mossad and the Iranian Qods Force. McCloskey grounds his story in a real event. And both the tradecraft and the high-tech equipment he describes are in use in espionage today. The Persian is a marvel, a story that only a true professional could tell. And it succeeds, too, in its literary quralities. McCloskey digs deeply into the hopes, dreams, and fears of its characters and describes their interaction with sensitivity and a perceptive ear for dialogue. This is spy fiction at its best.

A complex story pitting the Qods Force against Mossad

A non-observant Persian Jew named Kamran (Kam) Esfahani narrates the story through the confession he writes, and repeatedly rewrites, in prison in Iran. Kam had made the mistake of signing up with the Mossad as a spy. The story he tells chiefly involves four other characters:

  • Kam’s handler is Arik Glitzman, who heads a top-secret unit within the Mossad to assassinate key figures in Iran. He runs a small team of highly capable intelligence officers.
  • Glitzman’s counterpart in Tehran is Colonel Ghorbani. Obsessively secretive, Ghorbani has succeeded in placing an agent undercover within Israel to assist in killing members of Glitzman’s unit. (The methodology involved is fascinating, as is the technique Glitzman has used to murder a key Iranian scientist.)
  • Within the prison “the General” runs his interrogations. The narrative Kam writes is for the General’s eyes.
  • At the center of much of the action is a young mother named Roya Shabani. She’s the wife of a scientist Glitzman had targeted and killed—before her and her little daughter’s eyes, in fact. Kam’s attraction to Roya is central to the story.

McCloskey’s story is complex. Both Israel and Iran engage in false flag operations. Secrets and lies abound, and sorting it all out is a long process as Kam’s story unfolds.

The Persian by David McCloskey (2025) 398 pages ★★★★☆

View inside Evin Prison in Tehran, a scene in this novel that represents spy fiction at its best
View inside one of the buildings of Evin Prison in Tehran in 2022, one day after a fire ravaged the facility. Many political prisoners, like Kam Esfahani in this novel, are held there. Image: Koosha Mahshid Falahi – Le Monda

Why this novel stands out

David McCloskey is a revelation. In a genre clogged with workaday tales of CIA mole hunts and superhero spies, he delivers an entirely original story. It’s set on the cutting edge of East-West conflict in the Middle East, not in the shadowy past of World War II or the Cold War. And it’s grounded in the real world of high-tech espionage today. Even discounting the tense plotting and realistic character development, The Persian is fit fodder for any fan of spy fiction for its treatment of the high-tech techniques at play between Israel and Iran. McCloskey knows his stuff. He lived it for years as an analyst for the CIA in the region. Don’t miss it.

An AI summarizes the novel

I asked the chatbot Claude-AI (version Sonnet 4.5) for a 400-word summary of this novel. Following is the result, word-for-word, except that I’ve removed the URLs linking the text to its sources and inserted subheads to break up the text. Claude’s summary is accurate in every respect.

The Persian is a gripping espionage thriller from former CIA analyst David McCloskey that plunges readers into the covert shadow war between Iran and Israel. The story centers on Kamran “Kam” Esfahani, a Persian Jewish dentist enduring a monotonous life in Stockholm who dreams of starting fresh in California. To finance his new beginning, Kam reluctantly agrees to become a spy for the Mossad after being recruited by Arik Glitzman, the chief of a clandestine Israeli unit responsible for targeted assassinations and sabotage operations inside Iran.

Helping Mossad to finance a dream

Under Glitzman’s direction, Kam returns to his native Tehran and establishes a dental practice as cover for his intelligence work. He proves to be a remarkably skilled operative, quietly earning money while helping the Mossad smuggle weapons, conduct surveillance operations, and carry out kidnappings. However, disaster strikes when Kam attempts to recruit an Iranian widow seeking revenge for her husband’s death at Mossad’s hands—the operation goes catastrophically wrong, resulting in his capture and imprisonment.

In captivity, Kam falls under the control of a sadistic Iranian security officer known only as “the General,” who forces him to write and rewrite his confession. [In crayon, no less.] The novel unfolds through this testimonial framework, dealing not only with matters of national security but exploring deeper themes of revenge, deceit, and the redemptive power of love and forgiveness in a world built on lies.

Real tradecraft and based on historical events

McCloskey based the novel on actual events from the Israeli-Iranian conflict, including the assassination of Iran’s nuclear program chief using a remote-operated robotic machine gun—a real incident that opens the fictional narrative. The story careens between Tehran, Tel Aviv, Istanbul, and Stockholm, delivering what critics describe as masterfully constructed tradecraft combined with propulsive storytelling.

Reviewers have compared the novel’s conflicted protagonist and narrative style to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer, praising McCloskey for creating a layered narrative that gradually intensifies. Critics note that the book probes the profound moral and practical complexities of the shadow war, making it both timely and unsettling. By the novel’s end, Kam realizes it’s too late to save himself, but he’s managed to preserve one crucial secret that might still be salvageable.

About the author

Photo of David McCloskey at a coffee shop, author of this novel that is spy fiction at its best
David McCloskey in Dallas in 2021. Image: Ben Torres – Dallas Morning News

According to academic sources cited by Wikipedia, David McCloskey “worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for six years as an analyst on Syria. He was stationed across the Middle East, and regularly contributed to intelligence briefings for the White House.” He has written four well-received spy novels, The Persian most recently.

Now 39 years of age, McCloskey was born in Minnesota, studied international affairs at Wheaton College, and earned an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies specializing in energy policy and the Middle East. The CIA later stationed him throughout the region, which is prominent in his four novels to date.

I’ve reviewed all three of David McCloskey’s previous spy novels:

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