Istanbul Passage

by Joseph Kanon

World War II is coming to an end and the main character, Leon Bauer, does some undercover work for the American embassy.  On one mission he is trying to get a Romanian into Turkey and pass him on to the Americans.  On the first evening the weather is bad so the boat cannot make the journey to the rendevous.  On the second night the boat arrives and as Leon is trying to get his man shots ring out.  Leon has never fired a gun before but he shoots in the direction of the shots and hears a person drop to the ground.

He takes the Romanian to a holding place, and is told by a friend who has been assisting him, that the man they have "rescued" is a war criminal who has killed thousands of Jews.

Leon's wife was involved in activities to rescue Jews from Europe and get them to Israel.  On one mission a boat is sunk and many people die.  She has a nervous breakdown and is now in a care facility.  Leon loves her deeply and visits her often to tell her about what he has been doing.

Leon finds out that the man he shot was in fact the American Embassy contact who recruited him for the mission.  He is puzzled as to why his contact would be wanting to kill their "cargo" but he continues to hide and support the "cargo", despite things he is hearing about him.

Leon keeps trying to get the cargo sent on but the death of a second embassy staff person complicates things and the planned plane for the cargo is cancelled.

I couldn't figure out why Leon didn't just turn the cargo over to the Americans.  He thinks he is free of any involvement but then the fisherman who brought the Romanian to Turkey in his boat comes to the embassy and asks for his full payment and identifies Leon as a contact.  Leon has been asked to try to help find out who killed the Embassy employee (the man he killed).

Leon keeps trying to keep his involvement in the murder/espionage  quiet but he soon finds out that others know what he has done.  He doesn't know who he can trust. He wants to get out of the "espionage" business... but they keep his crime hanging over his head.

I really enjoyed this book, the plot kept building in suspense.  I couldn't understand why Leon kept being so committed to the Romanian, but later it turns out that he thinks he could use him as a bargaining chip to gain his own freedom.  The ending is unexpected.