by Howard Blum
First published 2014
Summer 1914. NYPD Captain Tom Tunney deals with Manhattan gang wars while a deadly threat emerges from across the Atlantic. Germany's ambassador receives orders to recruit and bankroll undercover saboteurs who will cripple America before it can join the Allies. Explosions tear through munitions plants and cargo ships around New York City. Officials blame anarchists and rogue activists, but Tunney suspects something larger. His small police squad faces a sophisticated network of German operatives that includes military officers, a germ warfare specialist, a Harvard professor, a bomb maker, and a forger. As the terror campaign escalates, Tunney becomes determined to expose the conspiracy and bring the perpetrators to justice. The hunt takes him from New York's streets and harbors to Harvard's campus, industrial estates, and the U.S. Capitol. This true story reveals America's first battle against organized terrorism and the breathtaking police work that stopped it.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, mystery-thriller, espionage, american-history
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, investigation
Setting: America, Germany, Manhattan, New York City, United States
Period: 1914, 1915, Summer 1914
496 pages · Hardcover · Harper