“The rock hopper penguin chuckled softly to himself, turned away from the diner, and disappeared into the fog. A moment later the lights in Smiling Sally’s Diner went out.” Could famous penguin detective Mr. Pin be involved in a crime? In another case, Cubs manager Walter Wavemin needs Mr. Pin’s help. Chicago sees double in the two pun-filled mysteries.
Time: World War II Place: England – the summer’s heat wave, 1944 Young widow and mother Valerie Sinclair is a candidate for British Naval Intelligence when she is handpicked for a treacherous assignment and personally approved by Winston Churchill because of the unique way her mind works. After a brutal training program and an elaborate scheme to hide her true identity, she will meet the challenge of her life on Operation GOLDILOCKS, an ultra-secret mission scheduled for launch behind German lines, into Occupied France. Transformed by surgery, and disguised as a French schoolgirl, the purpose of Valerie’s mission will be to effectively transfer the secrets of the first Atomic Bomb from German labs, via German and British banking partners, for the postwar benefit of the London Financial District. To succeed she must avoid a faceless pursuer. Fitting his movements to hers like a hand to a glove, is The Spy, the eerie mysterious figure who haunts her dreams. Moving with relentless resolve, The Spy becomes an uncanny part of the weavings in this startling revelation of international intrigue. Based on the memoirs of the real life British espionage agent Valerie Sinclair, this is the story of a war for information that affects the national prosperity of England and the United States for years to come.
Sixty years ago in Nazi-occupied Holland, over 50 British and Dutch spies parachuted into the waiting hands of German soldiers. Most were arrested immediately and many were executed. For decades historians and the curious public have struggled to understand exactly what transpired behind the closed doors of the both the allied and axis intelligence during what came to be known as Operation North Pole and Das Englandspiel. With key expository information sealed to this day, no one can say for certain who was fooling who. Were the Nazi's taking advantage of an inept and disorganized British intelligence service? Or was the operation a self-sacrificial ploy on the part of the British to mislead Nazi intelligence about Allied planned attacks? In this unique memoir, Hermann Giskes offers insight into the mysteries of Operation North Pole. Giskes, a high-ranking member of the German intelligence organization Abwehr, was one of the masterminds behind the operation. London Calling North Pole is an exciting and intriguing account of WWII from within the intelligence community, providing a compelling and honest account of the Englandspiel operation. Giskes gives us a glimpse into his keen mind and personal understanding of the ins and outs of Operation North Pole. London Calling North Pole is the perfect complement to British cryptographer Leo Marks' Between Silk and Cyanide. A must read for students of history, cryptologists, WWII buffs, and those seeking a better understanding of military intelligence.
The National Security Agency is the world’s most powerful, most far-reaching espionage. Now with a new afterword describing the security lapses that preceded the attacks of September 11, 2001, Body of Secrets takes us to the inner sanctum of America’s spy world. In the follow-up to his bestselling Puzzle Palace, James Banford reveals the NSA’s hidden role in the most volatile world events of the past, and its desperate scramble to meet the frightening challenges of today and tomorrow. Here is a scrupulously documented account—much of which is based on unprecedented access to previously undisclosed documents—of the agency’s tireless hunt for intelligence on enemies and allies alike. Body of secrets is a riveting analysis of this most clandestine of agencies, a major work of history and investigative journalism. A New York Times Notable Book
Separating myth from reality, The Enemy Within traces the history of espionage from its development in ancient times through to the end of the Cold War and beyond. This detailed account delves into the murky depths of the realm of spymasters and their spies, revealing many amazing and often bizarre stories along the way, shedding light on the clandestine activities that have so often tipped the balance in times of war. From the monkey hanged as a spy during the Napoleonic wars to the British Double Cross Committee in World War II, this journey through the history of espionage shows us that no two spies are alike and their fascinating stories are fraught with danger and intrigue.
After the war had fairly got going, naturally we thought a good deal about it, and it was explained to us by Fortescue that, behind the theory of Germany licking us, or us licking Germany, as the case might be, there were two great psychical ideas. As I was going to be a soldier myself, the actual fighting interested me most, but the psychical ideas were also interesting, because Fortescue said that often the cause won the battle. Therefore it was better to have a good psychical idea behind you, like us, than a rotten one, like Germany. I always thought the best men and the best ships and the best brains and the most money were simply bound to come out top in the long run; but Fortescue said that a bad psychical idea behind these things often wrecks the whole show. And so I asked him if we had got a good psychical idea behind us, and he said we had a champion one, whereas the Germans were trusting to a perfectly deadly psychical idea, which was bound to have wrecked them in any case--even if they'd had twenty million men instead of ten.
