Istanbul Passage: A Novel Paperback – April 16, 2013

The title quote refers to the Ottoman Empire and early 20th Century Turkey's always tenuous political situation. At the end of WWII, the country finds itself sliding into backwater status, but still hosting numerous postwar intrigues--the smuggling of Holocaust survivors to Palestine, early Cold War fencing by the Americans and Soviets, and once again defending its own territorial integrity from the historic Russian/Soviet menace.The novel's protagonist, Leon Bauer, has lived in Istanbul through the war years and is now treading water as American interests in the city are shrinking and he hangs on to hope that his seriously ill wife will recover and they can move on with their lives. Early in the story, Bauer becomes involved in the smuggling of an East European refugee with a highly dubious past. His involvement is in service to an official of the American Consulate General for whom he has done favors in the past. The smuggling attempt goes awry and Bauerfinds himself taking responsibility for the refugee's safety even as he learns more and more about the latter's horrific wartime record. It is this mounting knowledge that sets up the moral dilemma that becomes the structure of the novel.This an intelligent, finely crafted story that picks up tension and velocity as it moves forward. The protagonist is on moral tenterhooks throughout, and because the author has effectively convinced the reader of Bauer's integrity and worth, we are pulled into (and care seriously about) his decisions and fate all the way to the explosive finish.Author Joseph Kanon is being compared to Le Carre and Greene, but there are also glimpses of Eric Ambler and Alan Furst here. A great read. Highly recommended.

This book centers on a moral dilemma: What do you do when there’s no right thing to do? This is the question Leon Bauer, an American in postwar Istanbul has to ask himself.Leon works in the tobacco business but he knows about picking up and transferring "passages" - Jewish refugees on their way to Palestine. During WWII this is what his wife did though now she is in a coma after a failed mission when a boat with hundreds of Jewish refugee children was intercepted and many drowned. Therefore, he accepts this job reluctantly from a contact who is about to return to the US.Things go wrong, and Leon accidentally kills the man who hired him leaving him with the problem of what to do with the “passage” a high-ranking Nazi who, Leon finds out, was responsible for a massacre of Jews. He takes responsibility for getting the “passage” to his American destination and rejects offers and threats from the Russians, Romanians, the Turkish police, and a dangerous source to give him up. At personal risk, he transfers the “passage,” finds safe houses for him, plans his escape and delivery, and fends off opposition. For what reason, I never understood. His sense of duty? Or his commitment to delivering the passage no matter what?Some beautiful writing and settings, great action scenes and mouth-watering descriptions of Istanbul. A memorable scene on a refugee boat when the “passage” is recognized would have made a great ending. The book drags a bit in places, too many inner thoughts and debates, and some superfluous scenes that divert from the plot. But on the whole, this book has a kind of wondrous quality about it that takes the reader into an ancient city with a glorious past that still existed at that time.Kanon is a superb writer which is why I can’t understand his overuse of the word “looked” – one or more on almost every page. Also characters constantly “raised eyebrows.” But these are minor pickies when taken in the context of this excellent novel.

Joseph Kanon is the author of six novels including, Los Alamos, which won the Edgar Award for best first novel; The Good German, which was made into a film starring George Clooney and Cate Blanchett; The Prodigal Spy and Alibi, which earned Kanon the Hammett Award of the International Association of Crime Writers;and Istanbul Passage, his latest novel. Before becoming a full-time writer, he was a book publishing executive. Kanon was last reported to live in New York City with his wife, literary agent Robin Straus, and their two sons.It was the end of World War II. The Americans and the Russians are vying for dominance in what will become known later as the "Cold War" an era of mistrust; the war is over, everyone is packing up to leave Istanbul. The American's clandestine operation was conducted from the American Consul. It was engaged in disrupting German war supply efforts through the guise of operatives in legitimate businesses like R.J. Reynolds, Commercial Corp and Western Electric. There were others too, humanitarians, passionate for the repatriation of the Jewish refugees with Palestine; clandestine operations that provided illegal passage for them through sea ports on the Bosporus. As the story opens, Leon Bauer and his friend Mihai are proceeding to the sea port for a clandestine pickup of a German. It was arranged by Leon's friend and sometime employer, Tommy, who worked at the American Consul. It was a simple job, pick the German up whisk him away to a safe place and protect him until he is transported out of Turkey by the Americans. That was the plan but not everyone saw the same ending. Leon intercepts the German at the landing; suddenly gun fire erupts, the fire is returned and a dead man is left by the road side above. This begins Leon's ever deepening involvement in uncovering a traitor, protecting the German, hiding from the Russians and avoiding the police and secret police as he struggles with a moral conflict where none of the solutions is a good one.Kanon weaves a complex plot for his protagonist, Leon Bauer. There is intrigue, some mystery a moral dilemma and a touch of romance inside a love story. The characters are engaging and mysterious woven into the sights and sounds of post war Istanbul. The story is good; the writing has a few detractions however. Kanon chose to write using conversational dialog. The style is difficult to navigate, for unlike a real conversation there are no cues from gestures or facial expression. At times it was impossible to determine who was saying what or to properly hear the inflection; entire paragraphs needed to be reread carefully to digest the meaning - sometimes without success. The difficulty with the writing style also contributed to a decidedly confusing awareness of the evolving plot and an understanding of it as Leon solves the puzzles and leaves the reader still puzzled.All in all I thought the novel was good but it would have been terrific if Kanon had simply narrated the work rather than engaging in conversation. Not all readers will have a problem with this style of writing but some will. I would suggest that if you are interested in reading this novel that you take advantage of Amazon's free look, reading some of it to see that you will be okay with the writing style before you buy.I recommend the novel with the above reservations should you wish to add it to your reading list.