Synopses & Reviews
The first rocket will take five minutes to hit London.
You have six minutes to stop the second.
From the best-selling author of Fatherland and Munich comes a WWII thriller about a German rocket engineer, a former actress turned British spy, and the Nazi rocket program.
It’s November 1944 — Willi Graf, a German rocket engineer, is launching Nazi Germany’s V2 rockets at London from Occupied Holland. Kay Connolly, once an actress, now a young English Intelligence officer, ships out for Belgium to locate the launch sites and neutralize the threat. But when rumors of a defector circulate through the German ranks, Graf becomes a suspect. Unknown to each other, Graf and Connolly find themselves on opposite sides in the hunt for the saboteur.
Their twin stories play out against the background of the German missile campaign, one of the most epic and modern but least explored episodes of the Second World War. Their destinies are on a collision course.
Review
“Spies and informers lurk. Period details are piquant... Above all there’s suspense. As Graf and Kay plot and counterplot, questions rise and fall like rockets... V2 will keep you pinned on a compelling trajectory.” The Sunday Times
Review
“Engrossing... Harris brings the past to life through vivid characterizations and clever plotting. Fans of superior historical fiction will be rewarded.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“A veteran historical novelist homes in on one of Hitler’s last desperate hopes... [An] enjoyable thriller with plenty of well-researched historical nuggets.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“[An] historical-fiction master... Crosscutting between those launching the rockets and those on the receiving end proves to be a superb narrative device... [This] novel combines fascinating technical detail with a wartime drama that finds human ambiguity on both sides of the battlefield.” Booklist
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the bestselling author of Fatherland and Munich comes a WWII thriller about a German rocket engineer, a former actress turned British spy, and the Nazi rocket program.
The first rocket will take five minutes to hit London. You have six minutes to stop the second.
Rudi Graf is an engineer who always dreamed of sending rockets to the moon. But instead, he finds himself working alongside Wernher von Braun, launching V2 rockets at London for the Nazis from a bleak seaside town in occupied Holland. As the SS increases its scrutiny on the project, Graf, an engineer more than a sol - dier, has to muster all of his willpower to toe the party line. And when rumors of a defector circulate through the German ranks, Graf be - comes a prime suspect.
Meanwhile, Kay Caton-Walsh, a young English intelligence officer, is living through the turmoil of war. After she and her lover, an RAF officer, are caught in a V2 attack, she volunteers to ship out for newly liberated Bel - gium. Armed with little more than a slide rule and a few equations, Kay and her colleagues hope to locate and destroy the launch sites. But at this stage in the war it's hard to know who, if anyone, she can trust.
As the death toll soars, these twin stories play out against the background of the German missile campaign during the Second World War. And what the reader comes to under - stand is that Kay's and Graf's destinies are on a collision course
About the Author
Robert Harris is the author of thirteen previous novels: Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, Imperium, The Ghost Writer, Conspirata, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, Dictator, Conclave, Munich, and The Second Sleep. Several of his books have been adapted to film, most recently An Officer and a Spy. His work has been translated into thirty-seven languages. He lives in the village of Kintbury, England, with his wife, Gill Hornby.