Beside the Syrian Sea

1. This tautly crafted spy thriller is clearly written by an insider. James Wolff is the pseudonym of a young English debut novelist who “has been working for the British government for the last 10 years”. Bitter Lemon Press cannot use him (or a likeness of him) for the promotion of the novel. The biographical note quoted above is all we are allowed to say. We do not know his real name despite meeting with him frequently for editing purposes. The novel has however been vetted by the proper authorities for publication. 2. Against the backdrop of the defining conflict of our generation, this very topical novel explores themes of loyalty and betrayal, and exposes the morally complex world of modern intelligence work. It has the same sort of authenticity and authority that one finds in Le Carré and we are very proud to be publishing it. 3. Set in Beirut and in the Syrian desert a few years back it tells the story of Jonas, a British intelligence officer seeking to free his elderly father from ISIS captivity. When the UK government refuses to pay a ransom he begins to steal information from his employers that he hopes to swap for his father. Jonas must negotiate with young British ISIS members very much like the infamous ‘Beatles’, the four English jihadis who jailed and eventually beheaded the US journalist James Foley in 2014. 4. "It came to Jonas that he was powerless only so long as he allowed himself to be constrained by their rules. He had been subjecting his life, he realised, since the news of his father’s kidnapping had come through, to the same fretful risk assessment, the same concerns about reputation, the same obsession with worst-case scenarios that had come to characterise his working life. It was only now that he had begun to act outside the rules he understood just how much power he had."