Istanbul Passage: A Novel

Joseph Kanon's latest work Istanbul Passage is a perfect summer read. Set in Istanbul just after World War II as the Cold War is just heating up, the novel features a nuanced hero in Leon Bauer. He is quickly caught up in a defection gone wrong, and much of the energy of the rest of the novel is who set him up and why.

This book was recommended to me do to my upcoming trip to Istanbul. It was a good way to get a sense of the layout of the land and some background history. Though a work of fiction, set in 1945, I feel it accomplished both objectives. The story was complex and kept me engaged throughout. It was very well written and I recommend it to mystery lovers

Istanbul Passged takes the reader back to post WW11 Turkey. Lots of intrigue: Russians, Rumanians, Turks and of course Americans.
All vying for political position and information, mix in some romance and murder. All set in the beautiful city of Istanbul, you can almost feel it, hear it and smell it.

I have a hard time finding good historical fiction and this certainly qualifies. Moody, good pacing, and insightful into the feel and mindset of the time. My favorite thing about it is the writing style, which reads at times like a series of fractured thoughts, like seeing the staccato rhythm of a mind taking in a live scene. Original story, characters, and ideas - really nothing about it I didn't like.

Excellent Cold War spy story takes place in neutral Turkey. The fine revisit to Istanbul through the pages of this book was like another trip
to this exotic city in addition to the edge of your seat narrative. Loved the book!

Twisting, involved plot; protagonist who has to deal with moral ambiguity; interesting setting (post WW II Istanbul); well paced. All this kept me reading, but it felt like a guy's spy novel, and I disliked the lead female character and the way the protagonist fell for her.

There are definite periods of excitement in this book, but they are too rare. I think there are too many references to places in Istanbul that the average reader would have no familiarity with. Also, Leon's wife is in a sanitarium, but you don't know why she is there until you've read about 80% of the book.

Istanbul Passage is a fast paced murder mystery with surprises and interesting twists in every chapter. The story paints a fascinating picture of Istanbul's streets, buildings, and churches - and gives an in depth view into the characters in the plot.

What a wonderful story, full of violence and double-crosses and love. Beautifully drawn characters, operating within the exotic locale of Istanbul directly after WWII. The prose just sings. For me, this is one of the best reads of the year, and I read a lot. Comes highly recommended.

Well crafted but the plot points come awfully slowly and thus sags mightily in between them. What's worse is that I don't for a second buy Leon's motivation for protecting Alexei. In fact the greater the protagonist's peril the less believable his dogged refusal to hand the Romanian over to anybody to wash his hands of him the less credible it seems.

This author always creates a good read. On ascale of 10 I always give him an 8 to 9. He is solid and entertaining but never blows my socks off. This was a very good story on an exotic locale with very realistic characters.

I have enjoyed all of Joseph Kanon's books, though some more than others. "Istanbul Passage" is right up there with my favorite, "The Good German." In both works (and, actually, in all of his books), he focuses on the moral ambiguities all of us are faced with and makes us think about them without weighing down the narrative with pious or pompous thoughts. He is a masterful storyteller; the book is just a pleasure to read without ever being a "mere" page turner. Also, his characters are, for the most part, genuine and their dialogue is real. My only quibble with this book is that the character of his lover is a bit cliched and plastic, but it's a small quibble with a book that I otherwise thoroughly enjoyed.

A great complicated plot set in Istanbul immediately at the end of WW2. Americans, Russians, Jews trying to facilitate the passage of former death camp prisoners to Israel, and Turkish police and citizens, were all intertwined in an unusual way mostly involving the fate of a very, bad guy who wanted to defect to the US. Totally absorbing.

Solid, stylish noir with some novelty. The dialogue blends together too much, and sometimes it's so clipped it seems like everyone's speaking in fast-forward. The picture painted of Istanbul is beautiful but the Turks themselves seem oddly underrepresented. Good choice for a change or a quick read.

Again, another good read and adventure from Joseph Kanon, mixing exotic location and time when opposing forces sought to control the fate of people and countries caught in the middle of intrigue, espionage and murder.

Istanbul Passage is beautifully written. The author places the reader in situ and it is apparent that he has done an amazing amount of research on the area. As one who once lived in Istanbul, this novel places the reader "on the spot" with his descriptions. It is a truly good read.

If you've enjoyed visiting Istanbul or like post-WWII noir mystery novels, this is one you might enjoy. This book reminds me why David Mamet says genre fiction can be some of our most skillfully-written novels. Good characters, well-plotted--no spoilers here--Cold War intrigue, enough of old Istanbul still in evidence to be intriguing, enough of the new to be relatable to recent visitors, it's a quick enjoyable read.

Read this book while traveling in Turkey. The beginnning was a bit confusing and slow but about one third of the way through it all clicked together. Reading while being in Turkey and seeing many of the places that were mentioned in the book made it come alive. Three of us were all reading it at the same time and felt the same way. I definitely would recommend reading this book.