The spymasters

Format:

Book

Title:

The spymasters

Other title(s):

Spy masters

Author:

Griffin, W. E. B. author

ISBN:

9780399157516

9780515151374

Publication:

New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2012.

Physical Description:

385 pages ; 24 cm

Series title(s):

Men at war ;

Number in series:

BK. 7.

Summary:

"It is summer 1943. Two of the Allies' most important plans are at grave risk--Operation Overlord's invasion of France and the Manhattan Project's race to build the atomic bomb. A furious President Roosevelt turns to OSS spy chief Wild Bill Donovan--and Donovan turns to Dick Canidy and his teams behind enemy lines. They've certainly got their work cut out for them. In the weeks to come, they must fight the Axis in many ways, to try to find and sabotage Germany's new "aerial torpedo" rockets, some of which are rumored to be fitted out with deadly nerve gas and aimed at London; to rescue a missing covert OSS team bearing vital secrets; and to exploit German intelligence agents and generals disgruntled enough with Hitler to maybe try to topple him. And as if all that weren't enough, they must battle the enemy within, as well: The Soviets are using moles to steal Manhattan Project secrets, and if the Soviets build their own atomic bomb...who knows where that might lead? Filled to the brim with action, character, and the deep understanding of the military heart and mind that have made Griffin's books outstanding, The Spymasters is simply great reading."--Book jacket flap.

Corporate Subject:

United States. Office of Strategic Services -- Fiction.

Manhattan Project (U.S.) -- Fiction.

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

United States. Office of Strategic Services

Subject(s):

United States. Office of Strategic Services -- Fiction.

Manhattan Project (U.S.) -- Fiction.

Operation Overlord -- Fiction.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Secret service -- United States -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Genre:

Added Author:

Butterworth, William E. (William Edmund)

Electronic Access:

http://www.webgriffin.com

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
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Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summer 1943. Two of the Allies' most important plans for winning World War II are at grave risk--Operation Overlord's invasion of France, and the Manhattan Project's race to build the atomic bomb. A furious FDR turns to OSS spy chief Wild Bill Donovan--and Donovan turns to his top agent, Dick Canidy, and his team. They've certainly got their work cut out for them.

In the weeks to come, they must fight not only the enemy in the field--including figuring out how to sabotage Germany's new "aerial torpedo" rockets--but the enemy within: Someone is feeding Manhattan Project secrets to the Soviets. Moles are bad enough. But if the Soviets build their own atomic bomb . . . who knows where that might lead?

Author Notes

W. E. B. Griffin is one of eight pseudonyms used by William E. Butterworth III, who was born in Newark, New Jersey on November 10, 1929. He enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in 1946 and was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany. He left the service in 1947 but was recalled to active duty in 1951 because of the Korean War. After leaving the service for the second time, he remained in Korea as a combat correspondent. He was later appointed chief of the publications division of the Signal Aviation Test and Support Activity at the Army Aviation Center in Fort Rucker, Alabama. He received the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association in 1991 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award in 1999.

He wrote more than 200 books including the Brotherhood of War series, The Corps series, Badge of Honor series, Honor Bound series, Presidential Agent series, Men at War series, and A Clandestine Operations Novel series. Under his own name, he wrote 12 sequels in the 1970s to Richard Hooker's book M*A*S*H. His other pen names included Alex Baldwin, Webb Beech, and Walter E. Blake. He wrote over 20 books with his son William E. Butterworth IV. He received the Alabama Author's Award in 1982 from the Alabama Library Association. He died on February 12, 2019 at the age of 89.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Bestseller Griffin's solid seventh Men at War novel (after 2007's The Double Agents), the third in collaboration with son Butterworth, finds top OSS agent Maj. Richard Caniday involved in both a mission to keep Ike's imminent plan to invade Sicily a secret and an attempt to sabotage the Nazi V-1 and V-2 program. Goebbels has broadcast that the "aerial torpedo" attacks will first target London, starting in December 1943. To make the situation even more ominous, the Germans are planning to load nerve gas into the missiles' warheads, a move guaranteed to sow panic. Eschewing extended battle scenes and individual combat for the most part, the authors focus on spy missions behind enemy lines and recreations of meetings between historical characters. You can almost taste the gin and tonic as FDR and OSS chief William "Wild Bill" Donovan meet on the presidential yacht Sequoia to discuss plans for winning the war. Some readers might wish for more action, but series fans should be satisfied. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Review

The seventh installment of Griffin's Men at War series dramatizes a pivotal moment in the campaign against Hitler, who plans on hitting London with "aerial torpedos" laced with nerve gas--this while the U.S. is still developing the atomic bomb back home. The book opens in German-occupied Poland in the summer of 1943. Polish guerillas blow up railroad tracks to stop a train carrying scores of Jews to a death camp, only to a derail a private train with one car carrying a top Nazi officer. The incident sets in motion intelligence activities in Germany, Italy and Algeria designed to infiltrate the Nazis, turn some of Hitler's generals against him, and clear the way for the American invasion of Normandy--which Churchill steadfastly opposes, preferring to attack through the Mediterranean. There's also the question of who is selling Manhattan Project secrets to the Soviets. At the heart of the narrative are "Wild Bill" Donovan, headstrong chief of the Office of Strategic Services; his top agent, strapping 26-year-old Dick Canidy; Allen Dulles, head of the OSS in Switzerland; and his sympathetic old friend, German industrialist Wolfgang Kappler, whose son Oskar is a die-hard member of the SS. Hitler's top scientist, Wernher von Braun, plays a significant role in developing the V-2 rocket, years before he was whisked to the U.S. Griffin and Butterworth, his son, are completely at ease mixing fact and fiction, skillfully piecing together pieces of their narrative puzzle. Their writing is straightforward to a fault, sometimes reminding you of a scholastic "You Are There" novel, but the book never sags, and the characters never lose our interest. A knowing thriller in which the world must be saved on several fronts from the fascist threat.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

The Men at War series, chronicling the adventures of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II, is dangerously close to running out of time. The OSS was dissolved in September 1945 to make way for the new CIA and this novel is set in the summer of '43. Operation Overlord and the Manhattan Project are in full swing, both designed to ensure a speedy end to the war. But both projects are in serious jeopardy, and only Dick Canidy, OSS chief Bill Donovan's right-hand man, can find a way to protect them. Battling moles, Soviet spies, and Nazis, the OSS agents race against time to keep the enemy from pushing ahead in the race to win the war. The book is full of action, with characters who are reasonably well drawn and believable (for a novel that is completely plot-driven). Fans of wartime adventure stories (especially, but not limited to, Griffin's legion of readers) should be very pleased.--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist