I love to learn about other countries and cultures. Some people discount fiction in the pursuit of that knowledge, but history books and travelogues aren’t for everyone.
About the Book
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. He becomes a smuggler of refugees to Greece and develops such a good reputation that he’s approached by both the CIA and ISIS to smuggle high-profile individuals in both directions between Turkey and Greece. In the process of juggling their two operations, he falls in love with and must decide between, two men who offer different futures.
My Thoughts
Reading the story of Ahdaf, a fictional young man who serves as one leg of the vast network that helps refugees escape from Syria, is an amazing way to help spread knowledge about the Syrian refugee crisis and the realities of the situation abroad. While the account is fictional, these types of situations happen to real people. And the realities are probably worse for many people.
And this book highlighted something many of us don’t consider. In our progressive country, the rights of LGBTQIA and women are at risk. In the Middle East, women and our LGBTQIA brethren have their very right to life challenged. Books like these really highlight how big the fight is everywhere, and while some struggles are very different, at the end of the day, they’re also very similar. The world as a whole has so much work to do.
The story was heartbreaking, but in the end, I think, hopeful. It was also romantic in its way. It had a love triangle, one of my favorite romance tropes. Ahdaf was so sad and confused, but he grew on me. He was lost, but I really enjoyed his growth arc throughout the story. Despite how different their characters were, I really liked both Selim and Kalam. Kalam and Leyla were my favorite characters, I think. They both really uplifted Ahdaf’s character. As a former journalist, I also really appreciated the journalist’s story line.
I really enjoyed the format of the book as well. It was told over just nine days, showing how much can change in about a week. The timing of the book really added to the pacing and the urgency of everything.
I’m so grateful to the author and LBT for including me in this tour.
Who’s It For?
This is an interesting political and domestic thriller full of intrigue, action, espionage, and danger. No one is really safe, and there is danger around every corner. If that level of thrill is for you, this could be a great pick. The danger is especially elevated by the main character being homosexual in an Islamic country that is actively punishing gay individuals by taking their lives. So, be sure to check the Content Warnings before reading.
Content Warnings: Homophobia, Torture, Violence, Murder/Massacres, Refugees, Unhoused Individuals, Religious Ideologies, Extreme Living Conditions (Including, but not limited to, Bugs, Lack of Clean Water, Etc.), Extreme Poverty, Disturbing Imagery, Adult Situations, Adult Language, Child Harm/Death, Death
About the Author
Raised crisscrossing America pulling a small green trailer behind the family car, Timothy Jay Smith developed a ceaseless wanderlust that has taken him around the world many times. En route, he’s found the characters that people his work. Polish cops and Greek fishermen, mercenaries and arms dealers, child prostitutes and wannabe terrorists, Indian Chiefs and Indian tailors: he’s hung with them all in an unparalleled international career that saw him smuggle banned plays from behind the Iron Curtain, maneuver through Occupied Territories, represent the U.S. at the highest levels of foreign governments, and stowaway aboard a ‘devil’s barge’ for a three-day crossing from Cape Verde that landed him in an African jail.
Tim brings the same energy to his writing that he brought to a distinguished career, and as a result, he has won top honors for his novels, screenplays and stage plays in numerous prestigious competitions. Istanbul Crossing won the Leapfrog Global Fiction Prize in 2023. Fire on the Island (Arcade Publishing, July 2020) won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel, and his screenplay adaptation of it was named Best Indie Script by WriteMovies.
Another novel, The Fourth Courier, set in Poland, published in 2019 also by Arcade Publishing, received tremendous reviews and is currently competing in many competitions. Previously, he won the Paris Prize for Fiction (now the Paris Literary Prize) for his novel, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012.
Tim was nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize. He’s an avid theater-goer and playwright himself. His stage play, How High the Moon, a gay love story set in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, won the prestigious Stanley Drama Award.
He is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theater.
Amazon US: https://a.co/d/aGaKuzO
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/4SFxyIn
Bookshop US: https://bookshop.org/a/25511/9781948585996
Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/istanbul-crossing-timothy-jay-smith/7728611?ean=9781948585996
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216311769-istanbul-crossing
Authors website: https://www.timothyjaysmith.com/
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Published by Amorina Carlton. Award-winning American author, Amorina Carlton, is currently working on her first novel. You can find more about her published work and works in progress on the home page. She also serves as the PR/Marketing Lead for Ravens and Roses Publishing, and reviews books, mostly by other indie authors, here and on Bookstagram.