100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders πŸš€

Beside the Syrian Sea

3.74 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 458 ratings, 47 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Beside the Syrian Sea by James Wolff is a gripping thriller that follows Jonah, a British intelligence officer, whose father is kidnapped by terrorists in Syria. Desperately attempting to raise the ransom money, Jonah navigates a web of espionage, deception, and danger, all while trying to evade his own government and the sinister forces at play. This tension-filled narrative unfolds across various international locations, keeping you on edge as Jonah races against time to save his father.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2299
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy thrilling stories of espionage set against a backdrop of international tension. With gripping narrative and intricate characters, it offers a compelling exploration of loyalty, betrayal, and the complex moral landscape of modern spycraft. If you're drawn to fast-paced plots laden with suspense and strategic manoeuvring, this book could be an excellent choice.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

review by Marcel Berlins in The Times

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Jonas is a spy with a problem. His quiet life, spent writing reports for British intelligence, is turned upside-down when his father is kidnapped by ISIS. He soon finds himself dangerously out of his depth in Beirut, struggling to put into action the most audacious plan imaginable.

As events hurtle towards a confrontation with the kidnappers, and the British government realises the full horror of what he is planning, Jonas is forced to decide how far he is willing to go to see his father again.

That James Wolff is a pseudonym should come as no surprise to the reader of Beside the Syrian Sea, his superb debut. The writer has obviously been somewhere or something in the spy business. This emerges not so much in the main storyline, but in the fascinating surrounding details. Moreover, Wolff has written a work that seems not to have depended on copying the style and structure of the usual tales of espionage. Review by Marcel Berlins in The Times

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Beside the Syrian Sea by James Wolff is praised for its contemporary depiction of espionage and its gripping narrative set amidst the tensions of the Middle East. Reviewers commend Wolff's insider knowledge and the novel's intelligent exploration of faith and conscience. The plot is described as both taut and compelling, seamlessly blending thrilling pace with an emotional exploration of family loyalty and complex geopolitics.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781908524980

Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 13 April 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Bitter Lemon Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 320

About the Author

James Wolff grew up in the Middle East and now lives in London. He has worked for the British government for the past ten years. "Beside the Syrian Sea" is his first novel.

Also by James Wolff

View all
  • Spies and Other Gods
    From a former spy comes an electrifying novel about the mystery, paranoia and ruthlessness of the secretive world of British espionage. 'Wolff is the new maestro' β€” Simon Sebag Montefiore The Head of British Intelligence is having a bad day. Only six months off retirement and Sir William Rentoul is wondering if he'll make it that far, what with the...
    Paperback
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • How to Betray Your Country
    Following on from the acclaimed debut novel Beside the Syrian Sea, this is the second title in a planned trilogy about loyalty and betrayal in the modern world. Things are looking bad for disgraced spy August Drummond. In emotional free fall after the death of his wife, fired for a series of security breaches, and now his neighbour on the...
    Paperback
    $4600
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • The Man in the Corduroy Suit
    British intelligence is in a state of panic. Cracks are appearing, or so a run of disciplinary cases would suggest. To cap it all, Willa Karlsson, a retired MI5 officer collapses, the victim of what looks like a Russian poisoning. Leonard Flood is ordered to investigateβ€”quickly. Notorious for his sharp elbows and blunt manner, Leonard's only objective is to get...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    It Could Have Been Her
    PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: The no. 1Β Sunday TimesΒ and MULTI-million-copy bestselling author is back with a brand-new spine tingling thriller. It was the night she almost died. Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    26 Beauties
    The twenty-sixth thrilling novel in the globally bestselling Women's Murder Club series. Beautiful young women are disappearing by the dozen. A celebration is cut short when a concerned father crashes Detective Inspector Lindsay Boxer's party. His daughter is missing - and she's not the only one. DI Lindsay Boxer has been tracking a chilling pattern: a Jane Doe washed ashore,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Secrets We Hide
    The stunning new North Falls thriller by the bestselling author ofΒ We Are All Guilty Here 'Quite simply, Karin Slaughter is the best of us' Dervla McTiernan Welcome back to North Falls -- a small town with big secrets. The house at 1601 Iris Drive looks like any other in the quiet, residential street. But rumours are rife about the Vickery...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Parkwood Murders
    They came for an escape, but can they escape a killer? Detective Nicola Bridge returns in another gripping and immersive mystery For its loyal guests, Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a haven- woodland walks, a tranquil lake, service around the clock. Until, just after midsummer, a body is found floating in the swimming pool. Detective Nicola Bridge, exhausted...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Hope Rises
    'BALDACCI IS STILL PEERLESS' - THE SUNDAY TIMES REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD . . . Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him....
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Slash
    A year after a brutal shootout left her lover dead, ex-police sergeant Honey Chalmers is a hot mess, drinking too much and eating too little, working casual gigs for a shady firm of private investigators β€” while holding conversations with a ghost. A desperate father asks her to investigate his missing son β€” a double-murder suspect last seen during the...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    A River Red With Blood
    The players call it the Game, and its aim is simple: to abduct and kill a stranger without getting caught. They're very good at it. They've been playing it for a long time. And they can keep playing as long as everyone sticks to the rules: No Killing Close to Home and No Killing Outside the Game. But those rules...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Shadow Step
    The new Detective Miller thriller from bestselling author Mark Billingham, full of tension, wit and incredible twists. The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards ('in the shadow') Typically, such a step perfectly demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • Blue Lightning
    New Release
    Blue Lightning
    Blue Lightning The fourth Shetland novel A remote island on lockdown. A killer on the loose . . . Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancΓ©e to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world. Then...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Bones
    New Release
    Red Bones
    Red Bones is the third Shetland novel featuring detective Jimmy Perez. Sometimes the dead won't stay buried... When a young archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient findβ€”or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident in the middle of the...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Last to Drown
    New Release
    The Last to Drown
    Praise for Noelle W. Ihli: 'Hands down one of my favourite reads of the year' - FREIDA MCFADDEN 'A true classic in the genre' - LISA JEWELL 'A propulsive story that haunts and mesmerizes' - KARIN SLAUGHTER FIVE DAYS. TWENTY STRANGERS. NO PHONE SIGNAL. The rafting trip was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. But now that Kaia's...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.