Istanbul Passage
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Jefferson Mays
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By:
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Joseph Kanon
About this listen
From the acclaimed, best-selling author of Stardust, The Good German, and Los Alamos - a gripping tale of an American undercover agent in 1945 Istanbul who descends into the murky cat-and-mouse world of compromise and betrayal that will come to define the entire postwar era.
A neutral capital straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul has spent the war as a magnet for refugees and spies. Even American businessman Leon Bauer has been drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs and courier runs for the Allied war effort. Now, as the espionage community begins to pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life, he is given one more assignment, a routine job that goes fatally wrong, plunging him into a tangle of intrigue and moral confusion.
Played out against the bazaars and mosques and faded mansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Leon's attempt to save one life leads to a desperate manhunt and a maze of shifting loyalties that threatens his own. How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to make? Istanbul Passage is the story of a man swept up in the aftermath of war, an unexpected love affair, and a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it.
Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Joseph Kanon's latest novel flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller about the dawn of the Cold War, once again proving why Kanon has been hailed as the "heir apparent to Graham Greene" (The Boston Globe).
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- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Berlin, between the two world wars. When an executive at the renowned Ufa film studios is found dead floating in his office bathtub, it falls to Nikolai Hoffner, a chief inspector in the Kriminalpolizei, to investigate. With the help of Fritz Lang (the German director) and Alby Pimm (leader of the most powerful crime syndicate in Berlin), Hoffner finds his case taking him beyond the world of film and into the far more treacherous landscape of Berlin's sex and drug trade.
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Masterful
- By Buzz on 03-25-11
By: Jonathan Rabb
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Smoke and Whispers
- By: Mick Herron
- Narrated by: Julia Franklin
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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When a body is hauled from the River Tyne, Sarah Tucker heads to Newcastle for a closer look. She identifies the dead woman as Private Detective Zoë Boehm, but putting a name to the corpse only raises further questions. Did Zoë kill herself, or did one of her old cases come back to haunt her? Coincidence is an excuse that soon appears pretty unconvincing. Sarah can’t leave until she’s found the answers to her questions, however dangerous they might turn out to be.
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What a disappointment
- By jaf on 08-23-24
By: Mick Herron
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Koko
- Blue Rose Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Peter Straub
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 22 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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KOKO. Only four men knew what it meant. Now they must stop it. They are Vietnam vets — a doctor, a lawyer, a working stiff, and a writer. Very different from each other, they are nonetheless linked by a shared history and a single shattering secret. Now, they have been reunited and are about to embark on a quest that will take them from Washington, D.C., to the graveyards and fleshpots of the Far East to the human jungle of New York.
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7 hours in and I am done
- By bionichands on 01-26-12
By: Peter Straub
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The Letter Writer
- A Novel
- By: Dan Fesperman
- Narrated by: David Bendena
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Who exactly is Danziger? He's a writer of letters for illiterate immigrants on Manhattan's Lower East Side - "a steadfast practitioner of concealing and forgetting" for his clients, and perhaps for himself: He hints at a much worldlier past. What and whoever he really is or has been, he has a seemingly boundless knowledge of the city and its denizens. And he knows much more than the mere identity of the floating corpse.
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Mobsters and Cops, NYC, 1942
- By RueRue on 07-22-16
By: Dan Fesperman
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The Merlot Murders
- A Wine Country Mystery
- By: Ellen Crosby
- Narrated by: P. J. Davis-Oran
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucie Montgomery's semi-estranged brother, Eli, calls her in France to tell her that their father, Leland, has been killed in a hunting accident on the family's 500-acre Virginia vineyard. But the vineyard is now shabby and run-down and her siblings want to sell it. Then Lucie's godfather tells her Leland's death was no accident. With her greedy brother, hell-raising sister, and a seemingly cut-rate vintner hired by Leland just before he died, all the suspects are disturbingly close to home.
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Wine & history w/ your mystery!
- By Cracker1951 on 03-27-08
By: Ellen Crosby
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The Hunter
- By: Richard Stark
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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You probably haven't noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack. They're heisters.
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A dark story
- By Dave Nelson on 04-06-13
By: Richard Stark
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The Spy Wore Red
- By: Aline, Countess of Romanones
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When Aline Griffith was born in Pearl River, New York, in 1923, one might have guessed from her exceptional beauty that a career as an actress or model might be in her future. Few would have imagined that twenty-one years later, she would find herself in Spain as a deep-cover OSS agent, infiltrating the highest levels of Spanish society, or that five years later still, she would marry a Spanish grandee and become one of the most watched, most admired, most fascinating women of international society. This is the story of Aline, Countess of Romanones, a story of courage, beauty and success that is far more exciting than any fictionalized thriller.
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A must read!!
- By KaY.2012 on 12-29-14
By: Aline, and others
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After the Monsoon
- An Ernst Grip Novel
- By: Robert Karjel
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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A Swedish army lieutenant drops dead on a shooting range in the desert. Was it an unfortunate accident - or something more nefarious? Ernst Grip, an agent of the Swedish security police, is sent to the Horn of Africa to find out. Once he’s on the ground, however, he quickly discovers he’s on his own. No one wants him snooping around - especially not the US Embassy’s CIA station. Which is no surprise, given that military transport planes are leaving from the base carrying untraceable pallets loaded with cash.
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Difficult book to review. Pulse-pounding? Not.
- By Richard Delman on 08-18-18
By: Robert Karjel
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Pietr the Latvian
- Inspector Maigret, Book 1
- By: Georges Simenon, David Bellos - translator
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.
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Long live Maigret
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-19-14
By: Georges Simenon, and others
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Stormbreaker
- The First Alex Rider Adventure
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Nathaniel Parker
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. Alex Rider knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's car confirm the truth. But nothing can prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for Britain's top-secret intelligence agency. Enlisted to find his uncle's killers and complete Ian's final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with no way out.
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Okay action story held up by an great narrator
- By Mary Fan on 08-13-13
By: Anthony Horowitz
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Transcription
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In 1940, 18-year-old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever. Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.
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A very satisfying two days!
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Lachlan Kite is a member of BOX 88, an elite transatlantic black-ops outfit so covert that not even MI6 and the CIA are certain of its existence - but even the best spy can't anticipate every potential threat in a world where dangerous actors lurk around every corner. At the funeral of his childhood best friend, Lachlan falls into a trap that drops him into the hands of a potentially deadly interrogation, with his pregnant wife, also abducted, being held as collateral for the information he's sworn on his own life to protect.
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Excellent
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What listeners say about Istanbul Passage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Richard Delman
- 06-03-12
A very somber experience.
Joseph Kanon can write, that's for sure, and Jefferson Mays is a good narrator. Nonetheless, listening to this book was a deeply ambivalent experience for me. For one, WWII was well over sixty years ago. Two, Schindler's List was such an astounding work of art that it is in a class by itself. I know one can't compare an audiobook to a movie, but the story of helping the traumatized Jews leave Germany and Poland has been covered many times. The setting of this book, Istanbul, is an interesting city to read about, and the characters are well drawn. However, the book is weighed down by millions of details, and it really does get boring. The love interest between Leon Bauer and Kay Bishop is one place at which the book comes alive. This furtive relationship is a sidebar, though. The plot centers on Leon's attempt to get a Romanian monster, a true butcher of Jews, out of Istanbul and into the West. It is possible to respect and admire this book without actually enjoying it. Kanon does a great job of weaving historical truth with fiction, but, for my money, Martin Cruz Smith is such a master of this genre that no one can touch him. The atmosphere of the book is quaint and dated. I know that it does not take place in the present, but I just did not feel lured into it. The writing is turgid and distanced. This one is only for true WWII history buffs. Another movie which tells a closely related story (I know I'm straying here) and which few people have seen, is Charlotte Grey. Cate Blanchett is the finest actor of our generation, in my opinion, and the movie tells the story in a gripping, deeply involving way which moves you to a welter of emotions. I would see it five or six times (and I have) before listening to this book.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 05-09-17
Gripping and Surprising Spy Story
I battled a few times to get into this book and stopped listening. Until I persevered and once past the rather slow and depressing beginning I was gripped. The story moves along and with many twists and turns and a surprise ending. It turned out to be a rather good spy story and very atmospheric of what Istanbul must have been like at the time. Well worth a credit.
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- Curt
- 09-13-12
Swept Away
This is a really good book.
When thinking about what I wanted to say in this review, Elizabeth Barrett Browning came to mind: "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
Here are three:
1. Attention to detail
Like an painter from the Realist School, Joseph Kanon's writing is detailed, accurate, and objective. His greatness is in the details.
This isn't a history lesson (like, say, Michener would write); rather, the book is a work of art. The detail of the setting (Istanbul just after the conclusion of the second World War) serves as the vase for the bouquet of flowers that is the story.
(Humorous aside: As I was listening to this book, I thought to myself that Istanbul Passage had the feel of another book I loved -- Los Alamos. I couldn't recall who wrote Los Alamos, so I went in search of the author. Surprise! Los Alamos is by Joseph Kanon.)
2. Story
Every once in a while, I come across a newspaper article about someone who, on a glorious day, sets out on a creek or river in a raft or kayak expecting to float along aimlessly to some unspecified destination. Along the way, invisible currents present themselves and turn the innocent outing into a situation of great peril.
Here's an example from one such newspaper article: "Before I realized it, the water was pushing me to the right, and I hear my dad yelling me to the left,” Amber recalled, “and it’s like, ‘I can’t. It’s too late at this point.’ ”
Amber could have been describing this book. She has perfectly summed up the story line of Istanbul Passage. What begins as a gentle current of self-inflicted events gradually overtakes American expatriate Leon Bauer. He thinks he's in control until, too late, he realizes that he's not.
I challenge you to find better story telling.
3. Reader
A great reader creates atmosphere and brings characters to life. Jefferson Mays gets an A+ in this regard. Istanbul Passage is a terrific listen.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Andrew Hall
- 08-13-20
Excellent
As a fan of the spy genre, I am so pleased to have stumbled upon this book and author. Vivid writing and gracious narration come together to tell a gripping tale that takes place along the shadowy banks of the Bosphorus.
I can’t wait to delve into this authors work further.
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- RAMON
- 07-06-12
A Spy Story The Keeps Your Interest
This is a great spy story set in post-war Turkey. It has all the intrigue, betrayal and deception you expect from a spy story along with the mysterious atmosphere of Istanbul. I found the characters original and interesting. The protagonist is presented with the type of moral dilemma usually found in literary novels. Unlike some recent mysteries and spy stories, this one kept my interest throughout and it worth your time. The narration takes a little getting used to but the cadence fits the author's prose.
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5 people found this helpful
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- richard perry
- 05-20-24
Aged, cigarette abused, male voice for narrator.
Narrator’s voice was aged and cigarette abused. Inappropriate for the female, youthful main/ secondsry characters. Shogun merited better narration.
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- Sherri
- 10-29-12
Don't miss the boat.
The attention to detail is a feature of this great book. Joseph Kanon is a wonderful writer who's put together a thoughtful thriller set in a fascinating city during a turbulent time. I notice other reviews have quibbled about the narration -they're crackers, it's masterful.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Pamela
- 02-04-13
Was like a homework assignment
Would you try another book from Joseph Kanon and/or Jefferson Mays?
probably not
Would you recommend Istanbul Passage to your friends? Why or why not?
too hard too follow in an audio book, maybe it would've been better as a read
What didn’t you like about Jefferson Mays’s performance?
Too monotone.
Was Istanbul Passage worth the listening time?
It was last month's book club selection, or I wouldn't have finished it.
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- Brittain
- 08-14-12
Old fashion WWII spy novel
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The story was too plotting.
Any additional comments?
The story moved slowly. It reads like a 1950's WWII spy novel. Just so-so.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Maurine Porto
- 06-12-13
Great atmosphere and set in unusual time and place
I have read and listened to several of Joseph Kanon's books and they have all been excellent. This one is different than the usual WWII spy thriller but fascinating none the less. Set in Istanbul just after WWII has ended and full of interesting characters and intrigue. Highly recommended!
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