What would you do if you knew you were the only person in America who could rescue the one man who could help bring the Manhattan Project to completion faster than the Nazi scientists could complete their own experiments with nuclear fusion?

US intelligence officer Nathan Blum, a refugee from Poland, has escaped the clutches of the SS. He is, however, given a chance to change the course of the war. He is tasked with rescuing renowned physicist Alfred Mendl and bringing him to America to help the Manhattan Project team finalise their work. The only problem is that Mendl has been arrested and taken to Auschwitz.

Oblivious to all these arrangements, Mendl is acutely aware that his usefulness to the Nazis is limited. So he sets about teaching a young chess prodigy, Leo, everything he knows about gas diffusion, nuclear theory and physics in the time he has left before he gets too ill to speak – or is killed by the guards.

The Germans are aware that someone has landed in the forest near Auschwitz, and they suspect that an audacious plan to sneak someone into Auschwitz is under way. Who are the Allies after that could be important enough to take such a risk for?

This well-researched novel has an authentic feel for the period and developed and nuanced characters who bring a convincing sense of reality to the work. It’s enthralling and engaging, moves at a cracking pace and drives on through enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing until the last page.

Reviewed by David Johnson