Remember a time when the CIA was seen as either the bad guys or at best morally complicated? Back in the Seventies, post-Watergate, if the CIA put in an appearance in a book or film, they were almost never the guys in the white hats. Times have changed, people have moved on, and a former CIA officer like David McCloskey can write a novel that portrays the men and women of the CIA as white knights.

Damascus Station is, however, a good story, if a bit more morally ambiguous than the author would have us believe. Set during the early period of the Syrian Civil War it tells the story of a CIA agent who is tasked with recruiting a young woman who, for some reason, sits in a position of power in the Assad regime but is believed to be recruitable. To turn her into a CIA spy, he seduces her. End of story.

But that’s not how the story actually runs. Instead, he falls in love with her and breaks CIA rules that forbid him from sleeping with a “asset”. Because, you know, white knights would never do stuff like that.

In case anyone missed the point, the Acknowledgments section is full of praise for the CIA, dedicated to its noble and brave men and women. A sequel is coming out this fall, set in Putin’s Russia. My guess is that once again the brave Americans from Langley will save the world.