How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to be made? A neutral capital straddling Europe & Asia Istanbul survived the Second World War as a magnet for refugees & spies trafficking in secrets & lies rather than soldiers. Expatriate American businessman Leon Bauer was drawn into this shadow world doing undercover odd jobs & courier runs in support of the Allied war effort. Now as the espionage community begins to pack up & an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life Leon is given one last routine assignment. But when the job goes fatally wrong
- an exchange of gunfire a body left in the street & a potential war criminal in his hands
- Leon is plunged into a nightmarish tangle of intrigue shifting loyalties & moral uncertainty. Played out against the bazaars & mosques & faded mansions of this knowing ancient Ottoman city Leons conflicted attempt to save one life leads to a desperate manhunt that ultimately threatens his own survival. Rich with atmosphere & period detail Istanbul Passage is the unforgettable story of a man swept up in the dawn of the Cold War of an unexpected love affair & of a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it.