Istanbul Crossing by TImothy Jay Smith at Leapfrog Press
Genre | Gay / Contemporary / Action/Adventure / Mystery/Suspense/Thriller |
Reviewed by | Bob-O-Link on 09-January-2025 |
Genre | Gay / Contemporary / Action/Adventure / Mystery/Suspense/Thriller |
Reviewed by | Bob-O-Link on 09-January-2025 |
In this coming-of-age literary thriller, Ahdaf, a gay Syrian refugee, after watching his cousin executed by ISIS for being homosexual, flees to Istanbul for safety.
Ahdaf’s reputation as a people smuggler has put him in danger once more. A Syrian refugee himself, Ahdaf earns a meager living in Istanbul helping others make the crossing to Greece – a perilous line of work, but no less so than what he would face if the truth of his sexuality were discovered by ISIS.
Yet when the CIA and ISIS approach him about transporting high-profile individuals and serving as a double agent for their causes, Ahdaf ’s life is thrown into turmoil. And when his feelings for one of his clients come to light and as another possible relationship grows, the decision is taken out of his hands. Now a new choice lies before him, between two men and two different futures – if Ahdaf will live to see either of them. Istanbul Crossing is a story of adversity, love, and the courage of an ordinary man who must brave impossible situations in order to survive.
My review / my approach! I’ll begin with a personal observation. I last visited Turkey perhaps twenty years ago. It was a tourist mecca, and we were drawn by the robust economy, evidenced by the local hope of an imminent welcome into the Common Market. There was also pride in the democratic political system, the physical beauty of the architecture (from the glorious Hagia Sofia to the centuries old caves of Capadocia – once used by sheltering Christians). A poet has referred to “Time, that thief…” and today’s city and its surrounds seem much more honestly depicted in ‘Istanbul Crossing’. Reading it may be a certain revelation to my long-ago fellow tourists. The novel is rife with characters proffering some unintelligible philosophies, if any. Many religious practices seem mere exercises by rote, a major effort towards survival. As a “gay” novel, even that aspect of the principal character is almost unimportant to the confrontation to his challenging surroundings, yet Adjah is the only character fully and realistically presented. We see his world – its few heroes and many rogues – through his eyes, noting religious, sexual and survivalist instincts have been modified, perhaps even corrupted, by current circumstances. You, dear reader, will share them and hopefully gain some sympathetic enlightenment.
After a quick opening, setting location and mood, we enter a local cafe crowded with conversing men, many charging cell phones and, religious standards notwithstanding, keeping the bar busy. A woman is its proprietress. Ahdaf has just arrived from the hammam – a Turkish bath. The scene is almost comical, with only some of the beer cold from the refrigerator, charging wires criss-crossing each other, conversations almost abstract. Then Ahdaf becomes acquainted with Selim, a Turkish-American, who introduces himself. (Make a note!) Ahdaf is instantly cautious, being in the business of aiding refugees seeking to cross (be smuggled!) into Greece. After a taut exchange, Selim offers a future meal, and snippy Ahdaf replies “I’m never that hungry.” (For movie buffs, the image of Bogart and Greenstreet lives on.) This all sets the mood and place.
Ahdaf is arranging a clandestine passage to Greece for a family, trying to assure them that the risks are better than staying behind. Here, the novel pauses to provide a detailed description of a refugee neighborhood, and the paucity of comforts available. Author Smith wonderfully writes on so many levels, one of which offers excellent settings of the milieu in which we find ourselves. And another is generating completed side characters, even if they might not seem important. Like a street scene, even passing portraits contribute to the total effect.
Another note should be acknowledged. Ahdaf “wasn’t a believer. Though he liked the notion of religion.” That helps, as he is gay! The novel, perhaps only marginally to be considered a gay tome, does not shy away from that aspect of Ahdaf’s persona, as he enjoys a special erotic treatment from the hammam’s masseur.
By now as milieu is established, we will deal with hardship, marginal hopelessness, risk, loneliness, and sex versus morality. Wow!
Having met Turk-American Selim, Ahdaf meets Malik, who claims Selim is an American spy – which Malik knows as a member of Brothers in Faith – likely an Isis affiliate! Each man wants Ahdaf’s assistance to clandestinely move someone, as they are in a holy war. Lacking subtlety, Malik implies the use of force, referencing the murder of Ahdaf’s gay cousin. As this is Istanbul, where everything becomes politicized and great discretion is required – all is artfully presented by the author.
A dramatic point: the family being aided in escaping to Greece drowns, save for the pregnant mother. It is then discovered that their life vests were stuffed only with newspaper! This affects Ahdaf greatly, as he becomes socially conscious of the times. He sees the surviving widow, Meryem, cradling her dead son much as Mary with Jesus in Michelangelo’s Pieta. He hears Derya, a controversial television reporter, raising questions of responsibility. He recognizes a world where exiles drown, but those who stay home are killed by a dictator’s chemical bombs. Or beheaded. Or thrown off a roof top (as was his cousin). Refugees starve themselves so as to feed their children. And so Ahdaf decides to assist the CIA’s Selim against Malik’s ISIS! But, deliberately, author Smith leaves choices of good and bad, morality and hypocrisy, sufficient ambivalent to stir thoughts and arguments.
‘Istanbul Crossing’ evokes our sense of realism, particularly by adding many well-constructed secondary characters and evincing the hardships affecting the general population. ‘Istanbul Crossing’ is not a mere biography of Ahdaf, but a current demography of a city and territory of our times. On one hand, those especially looking for a bent aspect have Ahdaf’s life, including a moderated sexual relationship with his late cousin; an occasional hand job (coup de main?) with the masseur at the local hammam – which satisfies the need for sex but not affection; his strong physical attraction to Kalam, a sexy new transportation client, and to Selim – his CIA “controller”. All this occurs in that place where Turkey’s president, Erdogan is returning the country towards religious conservatism, disengaging the population from the revolutionary nonsecular government of former hero-president, Ataturk. By the way, apparently Karam also had a sexual relationship with Ahdaf’s late cousin – a further indication of the claustrophobic nature of life in that major metropolis. Karam represents a new world in which change may make such things no longer furtive. And Ahdaf realizes in dissecting his own view of the shame of homosexuality, that it is the burden of injustice and not fidelity!
‘Istanbul Crossing’ is particularly well written. It is spectacularly dense with action and ideas, a spy thriller, varied presentations of romance; a current political dissertation; a revelation of homosexuality in ISIS’s holy world. It presents a real place, unknown to most of us, the streets and ferries crowded with moving masses, traditionalists, and occasional seekers of sensuality, habitats with minimal comforts, common roach infestation. For the lower economic strata and passing refugees, Istanbul seems transitory and cold.
All else notwithstanding, in recognition of this review on a site for gay literature, note that politely described coitus is presented, but with limited detail. One-handed typists were not required! On the other hand (pardon my pun!) the detail available is sufficient to convey the act without adornment – appropriate to the characters’ situation and the novel’s style.
The story and its personae need not be further parsed here, but rather requires your first-hand (still, no pun!) reading. It provides a grand lesson: Acting with humanity is our best strategy to survive. That is quite wonderful.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book was purchased by the reviewer.
Format | ebook and print |
Length | Novel, 263 pages |
Heat Level | |
Publication Date | 24-September-2024 |
Price | $9.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback |
Buy Link | https://www.amazon.com/Istanbul-Crossing-TImothy-Jay-Smith-ebook/dp/B0D95BJ173 |