The third novel to feature FBI agent Jimmy Nessheim, of German origin who has been manipulated to infiltrate Nazi spy rings in the USA during WW2. Having now resigned and opted for a new career studying law, he is reluctantly brought back into the fold to investigate a possible case of spying in Chicago University's nuclear physics department, where Enrico Fermi is working on a project which will lead the way to the bomb. When an old girlfriend, with a disturbing Communist past, comes back into his life, the waters become increasingly muddy, as personal loyalties and professional obligations collide. Nessheim, created by a prestigious ex-publisher, is an endearing character, not just a man of action, but a human being full of doubts and no superman in the making, which makes him all the more credible and turns his adventures and struggles into a fascinating mirror onto a vital historical period.
America is at war. A long and deadly conflict seems inevitable, unless there is a breakthrough in the development of a 'Super Weapon'. The British and Americans are working feverishly to harness the terrifying power of the atom, convinced the Germans are also making a nuclear bomb. Science is mobilised for war. A deadly race is on...In Chicago, Special Agent James Nessheim has resigned from the FBI, and is now enrolled in Law School. But then his former Bureau boss, Assistant Director Harry Guttman, comes to call. A top-secret nuclear programme at the University of Chicago has been infiltrated; Nessheim agrees to go undercover to help track down the spy, joining the team of legendary physicist Enrico Fermi. Out of the blue, an old flame re-enters Nessheim's life. But Stacey Madison's Communist past worries Nessheim's superiors, and complicates his assignment. As his personal and professional lives collide, Nessheim discovers an unexpected conspiracy that threatens to sabotage America's efforts to win the war. A gripping story of history in the making, The Accidental Agent is a powerful page-turning thriller about a world on the threshold of its most lethal invention.
'There is much to praise in this complex and ambitious narrative, not least the adroitly handled ticking-clock scenario' -- Barry Forshaw, Financial Times
Author
About Andrew Rosenheim
Andrew Rosenheim was born in Chicago and came to England as a Rhodes Scholar in 1977. He has lived near Oxford ever since. He is the author of eight novels, including The Informant, Fear Itself, Without Prejudice, Keeping Secrets and Stillriver, and a memoir, The Secrets of Carriage H.
