Critical Mass
Would history be changed with the discovery of another highly placed Soviet spy within the WWII Manhattan Project? Such a spy had always been the subject of speculation. The impact of the principle Soviet spy, Klaus Fuchs, would take on new significance with this parallel super spy. What if that spy also continued to provide the Soviet Union with U.S. nuclear weapons intelligence related to the thermonuclear hydrogen bomb development after WWII? History would conclude that Soviet espionage penetration was decidedly instrumental in advancing Soviet nuclear weapons development by years. That would arguably make this newly discovered spy singularly instrumental in advancing what became the Cold War.
Historian Victoria Prescott believes she has identified such a Soviet spy after 50 years. Her obsession follows a pattern of research never before pursued, uncovering irrefutable evidence. If the aging spy can be persuaded to confess once confronted with the evidence, her book will become not only an academic coup but a commercial blockbuster.
This is a story about the making of the atomic bomb. It is also a story of espionage, treachery, and betrayal played out against the backdrop of that extraordinary scientific effort.