First published 2014
Eric Erickson sits in his apartment, staring at Hitler's portrait on his wall. The Brooklyn-born oil millionaire has just severed ties with his Jewish best friend as part of an elaborate deception. It's 1942, and Erickson has volunteered for a suicide mission inside the Third Reich. His task: locate the synthetic oil plants powering Germany's war machine. Erickson charms Heinrich Himmler and signs oil deals with Nazi leadership, all while secretly mapping refinery locations for Allied bombers. The B-17 raids that follow help shorten the war and save thousands of lives. After victory, Erickson receives the Medal of Freedom and becomes Hollywood famous. But he carries a devastating secret. He wasn't just playing a Nazi collaborator during the war. He had been one, profiteering from Hitler's regime before his conscience awakened. Blacklisted and abandoned by family, Erickson chose the spy mission as his path to redemption. This story reveals how one man's quest for atonement became America's most crucial espionage operation.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, action, espionage
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: redemption-arc, undercover-agent
Setting: Brooklyn, Third Reich
Period: 1942
83 pages · ebook · Diversion Books