The Detonators

"A gripping account" of German spies, a massive explosion in New York Harbor, and the hunt for the conspirators ( The New York Times ). The attack in New York Harbor was so explosive that people as far away as Maryland felt the ground shake. Windows were blown out at the New York Public Library; the main building at Ellis Island was nearly destroyed; the Statue of Liberty was damaged. Chaos overtook Manhattan as the midnight sky turned to fire. The year was 1916. And it had been shockingly easy. As war raged in Europe, Americans watched from afar, unthreatened by the danger overseas. Yet the US was riddled with networks of German spies. The attack on the harbor was only a part of their plans: secret anthrax facilities were located ten miles from the White House; bombs were planted on ships, hidden in buildings, and mailed to civic and business leaders; and an underground syndicate helped potential terrorists obtain fake IDs, housing, and money. President Woodrow Wilson knew an attack of this magnitude was possible, yet nothing was done to stop it. Americans, feeling buffered by miles of ocean and burgeoning prosperity, had ignored the mounting threat. That all changed on a warm evening in July, when the island called Black Tom exploded, setting alight a vast store of munitions destined for the front. Three American lawyers made it their mission to solve the mystery. Their hunt for justice would take them into the shadowy world of secret agents and double-crosses, through the halls of Washington and the capitals of Europe. It would challenge their beliefs in right and wrong. And they would discover a sinister plot so vast it could hardly have been imagined—a conspiracy that stretched from downtown Manhattan to the very heart of Berlin. "A fascinating but little-known episode in World War I history . . . gripping reading." — Publishers Weekly (starred review) "An intriguing, bracing tale." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)