February 2012 Book of the Month.

A truth unearthed by Jonathan Freedland, who writes under the pseudonym Sam Bourne, is the idea at the centre of this explosive WW2 thriller. While we thought we were fighting a morally repugnant enemy who believed in the ‘master race’ the idea behind it ‘eugenics’ was supported by some of the most influential British and American intellectual and political elite of the time. An unwitting Oxford don finds himself personally involved in this previously hidden aspect of WW2 when his wife and child are kidnapped.

Comparison: Michael Cordy, P J Tracy, Dan Brown
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Synopsis

The darkest secrets of World War II! finally revealed. Europe is ablaze. America is undecided about joining the fight against Nazism. And James Zennor, a brilliant, troubled, young Oxford don is horrified.

He returns one morning from rowing to discover that his wife has disappeared with their young son, leaving only a note declaring her continuing love. A frantic search through wartime England leads James across the Atlantic and to one of America's greatest universities, its elite clubs and secret societies -- right to the heart of the American establishment. And in his hunt for his family, James unearths one of the darkest and deadliest secrets of a world at war!

Reviews

Praise for Sam Bourne:

'A British thriller writer at the top of his game
Mirror

'A pacy read, constructed with a crisp control of tension and narrative drive'
Observer

'A gripping read'
Guardian

'Compulsive reading ! bears all the hallmarks of a blockbuster'
Daily Express

Praise for PANTHEON:

'A compelling story that combines the personal traumas of wartime, its headline dramas and the tragic tension that can arise between them. A disturbing delight.'
A D Miller, author of SNOWDROPS

About the Author

Sam Bourne is the pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, award-winning journalist and broadcaster. He has written a weekly column for the Guardian since 1997, having previously served as the paper’s Washington correspondent, and presents Radio 4’s contemporary history programme, The Long View. The most successful male thriller writer in the UK today, Sam Bourne’s first novel The Righteous Men was a Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2006 and a No. 1 bestseller, selling over 600,000 copies in paperback. His three subsequent novels, The Last Testament, The Final Reckoning and The Chosen One have all been Sunday Times Top Five bestsellers.   Author photograph © Eamonn McCabe 2011 More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation