The Seventh Floor (Damascus Station Book Three) by David McCloskey

 

The Seventh Floor (Damascus Station Book Three) by David McCloskey.

Published 30th January 2025 by Swift Press.

From the cover of the book:

ALL YOUR LIFE YOU'RE CIA.
THEN YOU'RE NOT.

A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat and run out of the service. Traded back in a spy swap, Sam appears at Procter’s central Florida doorstep months later with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole hidden deep within the upper reaches of CIA.

As Procter and Sam investigate, they arrive at a shortlist of suspects made up of both Procter’s closest friends and fiercest enemies. The hunt soon requires Procter to dredge up her own chequered past in service of CIA, placing her and Sam into the sights of a savvy Russian spymaster who will protect Moscow’s mole in Langley at all costs, even if it means wreaking bloody havoc across the United States.

Bouncing between the corridors of Langley and the Kremlin, the thrilling new novel by David McCloskey explores the nature of friendship in a faithless business, and what it means to love a place that does not love you back.

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CIA Agent Sam Joseph is sent to Singapore to meet with a Russian who claims he has an explosive secret to sell, but the mission goes completely awry. The potential asset is murdered, and Sam disappears. Artemis Proctor, in charge of the Moscow X unit at Langley, is made the scapegoat for a very embarrassing series of events which were not her fault. What is worse, she forced out of the CIA by people she thought were her friends.

With her career in tatters, Proctor heads for Florida, she has no idea what the future holds, but it is going to contain mayhem and a whole lot of alcohol. However, her reckless binge is brought to an abrupt stop when Sam, recently repatriated in a spy swap, arrives on her doorstep with shocking information... the potential asset told him there is a Russian mole high-up in the CIA.

Proctor knows there can only be a short list of suspects, and the guilty party must be one of her former friends, even though this seems impossible. She and Sam set to work unearthing the mole in secret, but their efforts are discovered by a Russian spymaster desperate to protect the mole at all costs, even if this means taking extreme measures on foreign soil.

Welcome to part three of the gripping Damascus Station series, featuring the glorious ball-busting Artemis Proctor. This instalment brings Proctor and Sam back together, after their adventures together in Syria in the first book, and McCloskey weaves a first-class thriller around them that is full of oodles of espionage chicanery, combined with blockbuster action sequences to die for (literally in some cases).

Proctor and Sam are both in sticky spots in this story having fallen foul of the nefarious machinations of an anonymous mole on the Russian payroll, referred to by his masters as Dr B. The novel unfurls in a web of twisting storylines from the perspectives of Proctor, Sam, their Russian spy-master foe, and a couple of blood-thirsty characters introduced later down the line to spice up the peril factor for our investigative duo. 

This being a McCloskey tale, you do have to keep your wits about you. As a former CIA analyst, he spins as much intrigue within the rarefied environs of Langley as in the field, particularly when it comes to dizzy heights of the envied Seventh Floor. His plots are devilishly complex, and it does require a high level of concentration to stay on top of the twists and turns as they play out, but I promise you will be amply rewarded. This is wonderful stuff, full of double dealing, morally grey characters, and storylines that have as much to do with the foibles of McCloskey's enjoyable cast of players as they do with the murky side of global power games.

Proctor stands-out as a volatile, smart, and slightly unhinged protagonist once again, with past misdeeds that come back to bite her. I love her irreverence, her determination, and her fierce loyalty to those she cares about. Watch out if you get on her wrong side, because she takes no prisoners. Her partnership with Sam is so engaging, and it builds emotional context to this tale that makes the kicker of an ending all the more powerful, particularly given Sam's vulnerability after his haunting experiences.

I adored this from slow-burn beginning to the seductive little hook that promises more espionage fun and games to come in a different global arena. McCloskey is the real deal, and his books are utterly absorbing. I cannot wait for the next one!

The Seventh Floor is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Swift Press for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst and former consultant at McKinsey & Company. While at the CIA, he worked in field stations across the Middle East and briefed senior White House officials and Arab royalty. He lives in Texas. He co-hosts The Rest is Classified podcast.