Author Description

The novel is initially based upon fact. When the Reich fell in 1945, the Allies rounded up Hitler's top ten atomic scientists and transported them to Farm Hall, a mansion in the English countryside. Their intent was to seduce the scientists into working on the Manhattan Project. The fictionalization begins with Major Oliver as the M16 officer in charge of the scientists. As the first few days go by, he finds them impish, mysterious, and full of "marinated craziness." Oliver also discovers an unsettling amount of strange occurrences he can't explain, such as the shredded civilians from Hiroshima appearing in the dining room of Farm Hall. When one of the scientists is murdered, the woman smuggled into the mansion that night is suspected. Eventually Oliver becomes very close to her, finding that she pursues Pelaez, the immortal magician, who masquerades as one of the scientists. Pelaez wants to stop the war, all wars, and intends to sabotage the Manhattan Project. Major Oliver is in the way.