This is a different kind of spy thriller because it is grounded in economics theory and based on real people. As conditions deteriorated in Germany in 1939, Midwestern accountant Ansel Luxford and his wife became increasingly concerned about the inhumanity espoused by Hitler and the Nazis. Because of his brilliant economic clairvoyance, Ansel came to the attention of Harry Dexter White, who was charged with establishing a secret group to analyzed Germany's strategy and the US response. Of course, all was not what it seemed, and although we know the eventual path of the war, this novel provides a glimpse behind the scenes. Each chapter is introduced by a tidbit of economic theory from various points of view, and these were very informative and not tedious at all. In a way, this book reads like nonfiction, but the author has portrayed characters who are complex and interesting, with a background that is both intricate and suspenseful. Readers will be inspired to seek out more information about the people in this book. ( )

This page-turner ‘spy’ novel thriller has a unique slant: in 1939, when America is committed to neutrality, economists and lawyers covertly fight the Nazis by controlling money and trade to cut off supplies to Germany. More than that, they are planning a post war world economy that interconnects nations in a way that will repress any future world wars. Amazingly, the story is based on real people and historic events, even the most unlikely parts.

Ansel Luxford had settled for an ordinary life in the Midwest as a tax attorney. He is horrified by the rise of fascism. He realizes that the British were stockpiling U. S. dollars while the Nazis had developed a closed economy, raising money by conquering new territory and taking over the wealth of the conquered, as well as looting the wealth and land of the persecuted Jews. Ansel offers his services to the Treasury Department, in particular to Harry Dexter White, the “only one in Washington who’s doing anything about it.”

Ansel becomes part of a small coterie secretly working under Henry Morgenthau to find a way to curtail fascism through economics. Their earliest plans are foiled by a mole, perhaps Breckinridge Long who as ambassador to Italy became quite a fan of Mussolini and fascism. Ansel meets his idol John Maynard Keynes, only to find himself in a battle of competing visions.

There is a lot of theory bounced around between the characters, and yet I never felt overwhelmed or bogged down; Moore keeps the tension and suspense going.

Moore’s Author’s Note discusses the history behind the fiction, and where the two diverge and converge in the novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, as I did his previous novel The Last Days of Night.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. ( )