ISTANBUL PASSAGE by Joseph Kanon

Istanbul is a historic city that sits at the crossroads of east and west and has a long and complex history that lends itself to spy thrillers in the milieu of John le Carre, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, and Alan Furst. The city itself sits at the entrance to the Bosphorus that flows into the Black Sea and was the center of Russo-Turkish conflict from the 18^th century to the conclusion of World War II. During the war, the city like Stockholm, Lisbon, and Geneva were supposedly neutral, but in the clever and credible hands of novelist Joseph Kanon its reality is a world of espionage which snares the reader in the complex world of spies.

The plot for Kanon’s ISTANBUL PASSAGE evokes his past technique of using an urban site as the center of his story as he has done in previous and later books. From Hollywood, to Moscow, Berlin, Shanghai, Venice and Buenos Aires they are all central to the stories that evolved in SHANGHAI; LEAVING BERLIN; STARDUST; THE GOOD GERMAN; DEFECTORS; LOS ALAMOS; and THE ACCOMPLICE. All of these works are provocative, fully realized fiction that investigates the reality of history as it is experienced by individual men and women.

The novel begins with allied veteran Leon Bauer who is running spy missions under the cover of a U.S. tobacco-importing business waiting for a boat to arrive and deliver a package, a.k.a , a man for whom he would be responsible. After the package did not arrive he decides to visit his wife Anna who is being treated at the Dr. Obstbaum’s clinic for a form of melancholia. In the recent past Anna had worked for the Mossad that funneled Jewish refugees through Istanbul to Palestine operating around the British blockade who wanted to keep the Jews at bay and not aggravate their Arab allies. Her work became a cover for Leon’s own, but dealing with so much secrecy, lies, and deaths she had a nervous collapse, retreating into a catatonic state. Leon is loyal to his wife, visiting often, hoping that in the near future the sound of his voice will return her to reality – it is her condition that keeps him anchored to Istanbul.

Periodically Kanon integrates Turkish history into the novel. Examples abound; Turks stealing from Armenians and Jews; Russia’s goal of controlling the Black Sea; the Truman Doctrine designed to assist Turkey and Greece against the communist threat; the smuggling of Jews who escaped the Holocaust across Turkey as a means to avoid the British blockade of Palestine. There are many other examples, providing evidence of Kanon’s success as a purveyor of historical fiction.

(The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey)

A key theme for Kanon which permeates the novel is a moral one. Leon has spent time with his wife, Anna assisting the smuggling of Jews into Istanbul, loading them on to freighters designed to outrun the British blockade of Palestine. At the same time, he is tasked by his boss, Tommy King, a spy stationed in the American consulate in Istanbul; to assist a Romanian defector named Alexi, whose real name is Jiani who has intelligence against the Russians to escape to the United States. The problem is that four years earlier he was part of a massacre of Jews as during the war he was a member of the Fascist Romanian Iron Guard. The Romanians set up concentration camps – only the ones the Germans didn’t run themselves. They killed about 200,000 Jews. As part of a later plot twist Leon will become implicated in two murders. First, Tommy King who may have been a double agent working with Moscow,, and later Fran Bishop, an American diplomat stationed in Ankara. The evidence points to Leon who is also having an affair with Bishop’s wife, Kay. Eventually Leon’s fate is intertwined with Alexi as he must escape the Istanbul police, and the Turkish secret police – the Emniyet.

The Cold War atmosphere dominates the background of the novel as Leon and Alexi wonder if the Russians are responsible for the killings. Apart from the Truman Doctrine, we learn of deals with former Nazi scientists and spies as the Russians and Americans vie for their services.

Leon was not a career operative and was not trained as an interrogator. It is interesting how Alexi educates Leon about spy craft, especially when Leon questions him about the massacre at Straulesti. With no choice and King dead Leon becomes Alexi’s partner as he must hide and protect him as he arranges his escape.

(Inside Hagia Sophia)

Kanon creates a series of complex characters who dominate the novel. The most important is Leon who is a flawed character who loves his wife, who has been hospitalized, possibly permanently visiting a prostitute each week and has an affair with Kay Bishop, apart from his role of smuggling Alexi. Tommy King, who was to manage Alexi’s escape, is murdered, but the question is by whom since his loyalties are in question. Mihai, a Romanian Jew who worked with Anna to transport Jews to Palestine. He continues that work without Anna and is appalled by the deal he makes with Leon concerning Alexi. Lily Nadir, a worldly widow who first arrived in Istanbul as a Circassian slave at age fourteen at the Sultan’s harem. She now gives society parties at her waterfront villa as she brings together many noteworthy characters especially those involving the Emniyet. Colonel Murat Altan who guides Leon at times, but as Turkish secret police he has a strong duplicitous side. Throughout, the question remains who can be trusted, but the key relationship is between Leon and Alexi. At first, Alexi is dependent upon Leon for his survival, as the plot unravels Leon becomes dependent upon Alexi.

ISTANBUL PASSAGE contains many ebbs and flows as the story develops layer upon layer. It is not the type of historical thriller Kanon usually delivers. There are plenty of action and plot shifts, but many of the scenes are dominated by lengthy innocuous dialogue which does little to maintain one’s interest. The story contains too many peaks and valleys and needs to stick to the pertinent aspects of the story and not wander off into areas that do not enrich the reader’s experience. Despite this Kanon edifies the reader with intelligent plotting and its vivid presentation of Istanbul, a setting rich in centuries of intrigue encapsulating the Ottoman years, the Byzantine sights, the influx of Germans in the 1930s, and the Ottoman Empire’s long imperial past.