We all know about the fragility of normal. The death of a loved one. Job cuts. Waking up one day to find you’re in the midst of a global pandemic. But if you’re like me, sometimes it’s hard to truly appreciate how fragile normal is until after things fall apart.

Such is the case with the family at the heart of my novel The Doctor of Aleppo.

I began writing the book back in 2016 as the war in Syria was raging. Because I’d traveled extensively to the wider region and was analyzing the war in what was to become a professional capacity, I was following events closely. Beyond being heartbroken by what was happening, I was struck by the sense that the same struggle we see in the US between people who are drawn to pluralism and tolerance, people who are fearful of “the other”, and people who would take advantage of that struggle, was the essence of what was occurring in Syria. I also thought that, even though the war might seem distant to many here in the US, it was a story that could happen to any of us in the sense that all our lives are fragile.

And so I set about trying to wrap a mystery and a love story around a novel that would lend a bit of insight into what’s happening in Syria—and yet still resonate with readers regardless of where one happens to live on this earth. Four years later, we have The Doctor of Aleppo.

About the Author

Dan Mayland is an author and professional geopolitical forecaster, helping nonprofit, private, and government organizations navigate a changing world. His Mark Sava spy series and his latest novel, The Doctor of Aleppo, were informed by his experiences in the Caspian region and Middle East. Raised in New Jersey, Mayland now lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and two children, in an old stone farmhouse he and his wife have restored. More information about Dan and his books can be found at danmayland.com.

About The Doctor of Aleppo

Hardcover: 450 pages

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing; Unabridged edition (August 11, 2020)

In the ancient Silk Road city of Aleppo, a young American woman is sucked into the Syrian civil war engulfing the city. Relentlessly pursued by a Javert-like secret police officer, her only refuge is the rebel hospital run by a renowned surgeon.

In The Doctor of Aleppo, Dan Mayland, author of the bestselling Mark Sava spy novel series, pairs a thriller writer’s sensibilities with a gripping account of good people cruelly trapped in somebody else’s war.

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