V2: A novel of World War II

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “superlative historical thriller” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) from the acclaimed author of Conclave, Fatherland, and Munich, the destinies of a British actress-turned-spy and a disillusioned German rocket engineer collide at the height of World War II

“Propulsive. . . . V2 features sophisticated weaponry, devious Nazis, moral compromise and Allied ingenuity.” —The Wall Street Journal

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 soldier, has to muster all of his willpower to toe the party line. And when rumors of a defector circulate through the German ranks, Graf becomes 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 Belgium. 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.