An Act of God by Stephen Francis

 

Early 1950s in DC. Eisenhower has been elected President and the world continues to recover from World War II. Daniel Miller was a Brit operative in the war and has relocated to DC and his wartime rep continues to follow him.

Near the end of the war, the Allies and the Russians were competing to pull German scientists to their side. One of the many opportunities that were available to the victors. The US set up the Vatican-interceded 'Operation Paperclip' that successfully placed about 1500 such scientists and their families in the US (and yeah, Operation Paperclip was a successful venture by what would become the CIA). Those who came were scattered across the US and as they settled, some were returning to work in their chosen fields. Despite the end of the war, there remained a considerable number of patriots in Europe and South America who looked forward to a new Reich.

As expected, some weren’t all that happy and considered those relocated to be traitors to the Fatherland. Former Nazis, and some Russians who weren’t as successful at getting what they thought was their fair share of Germany’s former brainpower, have culled together a small network. If Germany or Russia can’t have them, then certainly neither can the US. A plan is put in place and one by one, former German scientists are dying. Some deaths appear natural, but many are downright executions.

Given the sensitive nature of the victims, the FBI has to investigate quietly and out of the eyes of the press. Rather than pile a ton of resources into a manhunt, they contact Daniel Miller and his handler to work as ‘consultants’ and report back with their findings. Miller figures out that his presence allows the FBI some level of deniability as well as being expendable if he fails.

As the death toll mounts, Miller’s guesses and assumptions begin to find enough traction that the bad guys turn their sights on him.

An entertaining post WWII mystery for folks who like that era of history. I had a pre-release copy of the ebook from NetGalley. The version I read had a number of editorial issues (the didn’t really detract from the story) that I would assume would be correct by the time the print version becomes available.

East Coast Don