This novel follows the wartime life of young Michael O’Shaunessey, whose father is the Irish ambassador to Nazi Germany, and his mother works for the Irish Intelligence. Together, all three spy on the Nazis and secretly give the Allies intelligence on the Germans, despite the fact that Ireland is officialy neutral.
Michael is in the Hitler Youth, a youth organization for German boys to prepare them for military service. One day, he sees a young boy named Fritz being beaten by the other members of the Hitler Youth, and having been bullied as an Irish Boy in England, protects Fritz, and in doing so forms a friendship with him.
One day, as their Hitler Youth troop are going on a mission to search and find a British pilot that was shot down in the fields, Michael locates and finds the pilot, helping hide him and bringing him back to the embassy at great risk to his own family. The pilot, Simon, reveals that he was taking photos of Projekt1065, a German project to build jet-powered aircraft.
However, Michael discovers his friend Fritz’ father is an engineer who has the plans for the jet in his household. Michael has a photographic memory, and therefore begins writing down all of the blueprints bit by bit as his friendship with Fritz grows.
Fritz and Michael both want to get into the SRD, an elite group of the Hitler Youth, each for their own reasons. Fritz wants to be stronger, while Michael wants access to higher level information. When they both make it in, they grow apart as Fritz becomes more cruel and powerful. Eventually, when Fritz is selected for a top-secret mission, Michael knows he needs to get onto that team to gain valuable intelligence, and must do anything to get onto it, even if it means sacrificing everything.
This novel demonstrates the conflict of a young spy between his dedication to his mission and what he will do to protect those he loves the most.
Opinion: This book is extremely unique: Michael is forced to deceive, lie, and sacrifice so much for this mission as such a young boy. As the mission complicates and expands, it becomes more intense and what is at stake for the Allies becomes very clear: it could be a matter of victory or defeat, depending on whether Michael succeeds or not. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys historical fiction, or intense spy thrillers; still yet, this book without a doubt is enjoyable for any audience, because it covers a variety of topics: friendship, bullying, deceit, action, love, and heartbreak.