If you’re a fan of Daniel Silva, John le Carre, or Jason Matthews, then mark your calendars and save the date because David McCloskey’s next spy thriller, The Seventh Floor, is set to hit bookstores on October 1, 2024.
McCloskey—a former CIA analyst who previously regularly wrote for the President’s Daily Brief, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and briefed senior White House officials, Ambassadors, military officials, and Arab royalty—took the world of spy fiction by storm with his 2021 novel, Damascus Station. That book received high praise from former director of the CIA, General David Petraeus (“the best spy novel I have ever read”), along with #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr (“the most realistic and authentic depiction of modern-day tradecraft in the nonpermissive and hostile environments you will find in print.”), and even earned a rave review from People. Additionally, it was a finalist for ITW’s 2022 award for Best First Book and was chosen by the Financial Times as their pick for the “Best Summer Book of 2022.”
For his second act, McCloskey released Moscow X in 2023, this time with heavy hitters like Brad Thor and Gregg Hurwitz offering more praise and Publishers Weekly calling it “pitch-perfect.” Now, all eyes are on McCloskey again as he prepares to release his third novel, The Seventh Floor, the first book under a new, two-book deal the author (who is represented by Lisa Erbach Vance at the Aaron Priest Literary Agency) signed last year with W.W. Norton.
“The Seventh Floor is a molehunt story,” said McCloskey in an exclusive statement to The Real Book Spy. “A ‘whodunit’ in the tradition of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in which the CIA has been turned inside out by a highly placed Russian asset, and Artemis Procter must investigate close friends and cherished enemies alike in her quest to uncover the traitor’s identity. This book is the closest look yet at Procter’s checkered and salacious past. In addition to a deep dive in CIA counterespionage operations, readers should buckle up, because it also features CIA intramural baseball (including a nasty brawl) and a tour through Procter’s post-Agency work for central Florida’s third-largest alligator-themed amusement park.”
Check out the official plot details below.
Six CIA officers. Dear friends and cherished enemies. For a quarter-century they have stolen other people’s secrets. Now they must steal each other’s.
A Russian arrives in Singapore with a secret to sell. When the Russian is killed and Sam Joseph, the CIA officer dispatched for the meet, goes missing, Artemis Procter is made a scapegoat and run out of the service. Traded back in a spy swap, Sam appears at Procter’s doorstep months later with an explosive secret: there is a Russian mole within the upper reaches of the CIA. As Procter and Sam investigate, they arrive at a shortlist of suspects made up of both Procter’s closest friends and fiercest enemies. The hunt requires Procter to dredge up her checkered past in the service of CIA, placing the pair in the sights of a savvy Russian spymaster who will protect Moscow’s mole in Langley at all costs.
David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst and consultant at McKinsey & Company. While at the CIA, he wrote regularly for the President’s Daily Brief, delivered classified testimony to Congressional oversight committees, and briefed senior White House officials, Ambassadors, military officials, and Arab royalty. He worked in CIA field stations across the Middle East. During his time at McKinsey, David advised national security, aerospace, and transportation clients on a range of strategic and operational issues. David holds an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, where he specialized in energy policy and the Middle East. He lives in Texas with his wife and three children.
Readers excited to get their hands on The Seventh Floor can now pre-order David McCloskey’s highly-anticipated third novel here or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and is building a growing community on Twitch. His debut thriller, FIELDS OF FIRE, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr says “will leave you speechless and begging for more,” is now available. His second novel, LETHAL RANGE, is also in bookstores, and his third book, OUT FOR BLOOD, comes out on June 4th. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. To interact with other readers and talk about your favorite books and authors, join The Real Book Spy’s Discord server.