Based on a true story, a gripping historical novel about a German immigrant who becomes embroiled in a Nazi spy ring operating in New York City in the early days of World War II. At the end of the 1930s, Europe is engulfed in war. Though America is far from the fighting, the streets of New York have become a battlefield. Anti-Semitic and racist groups spread hate, while German nationalists celebrate Hitler's strength and power. Josef Klein, a German immigrant, remains immune to the troubles roiling his adopted city. The multicultural neighborhood of Harlem is his world, a lively place full of sidewalk tables where families enjoy their dinner and friends indulge in games of chess. Josef's great passion is the radio. His skill and technical abilities attract the attention of influential men who offer him a job as a shortwave operator. But when Josef begins to understand what they're doing, it's too late; he's already a little cog in the big wheel-part of a Nazi espionage network working in Manhattan. Discovered by American authorities, Josef is detained at Ellis Island, and eventually deported to Germany. Back in his homeland, fate leads him to his brother Carl's family, soap merchants in Neuss-where he witnesses the seductive power of the Nazis and the war's terrible consequences-and finally to South America, where Josef hopes to start over again as Jose. Eventually, Josef realizes that no matter how far he runs or how hard he tries, there is one indelible truth he cannot escape: How long can you hide from your own past, before it catches up with you? Copyright 2020 by Klett-Cotta-J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger GmbH Stuttgart, Germany; Translated by Marshall Yarbrough

'Fast, tense, thrilling - and timely: this will happen one day. Highly recommended' LEE CHILD 'A dazzling debut' Marcel Berlins, The Times THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH THE GLOBAL MILLION-COPY BESTSELLER *************************************** Tomorrow will be too late. A cold night in Milan, Piero Manzano wants to get home. Then the traffic lights fail. Manzano is thrown from his Alfa as cars pile up. And not just on this street - every light in the city is dead. Across Europe, controllers watch in disbelief as electricity grids collapse. Plunged into darkness, people are freezing. Food and water supplies dry up. The death toll soars. Former hacker and activist Manzano becomes a prime suspect. But he is also the only man capable of finding the real attackers. Can he bring down a major terrorist network before it's too late? ************************ 'Part Dan Brown-style chase and part eco-thriller, this debut-a bestseller in Germany-will get people talking' - Booklist US