*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was different than expected. i like reading ww2 books and rarely find a bad one, happy to say this one was a good one! would recommend!

AN AFFAIR OF SPIES is an action packed takeoff heroism and love in the face of unspeakable evil.

I enjoyed this story and thought it was paced well, and had characters that were well developed. Nathan Silverman lives in Berlin and immigrates to New York City in hopes of a fresh start after Kristallnacht. As the United States is at war with Germany, Nathan decides to signup to fight the Nazis.

*many thanks to St Martins Press and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

This is my first book by this author and it's not really my cup of tea, hence why it took me so long to read it and review it. It was a good story, a bit long for me but again this isn't something I would normally read. I think Ronald Balson is a wonderful writer and I would like to read more books by this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this book and give my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

I enjoyed this- well paced with strong characters. The history was very interesting, and I'm glad the romance wasn't the central part of the story- more a nice addition. The narrator had a great voice.

Nathan Silverman grew up in Berlin and was able to immigrate to New York City shortly after Kristallnacht. Now that the U.S. is at war with Germany, he signs up to fight the Nazis. Expecting to be a normal soldier, he is instead picked to train as a spy and ordered to report to the Manhattan Project. There, he meets Dr. Allison Fisher, a brilliant physicist who works for the Manhattan Project. A German physicist working on their plan for an atomic bomb wants to defect, and Nathan and Allison are tasked with going to Berlin and sneaking him and his information out of the country.

It was an entertaining story, but the pair made horrible spies. They would have died early in this mission if it were real life, and it happened more times than my suspension of disbelief would tolerate. Fred Berman did a nice job narrating the audiobook.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

✨Review✨

An Affair of Spies
By Ronald H. Balson
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance
Rating: 4/5⭐️
Pub day: September 13 - out now!

This book takes us behind the scenes of the nuclear arms race of WWII. This story was interesting and informative and even had some romance woven in. There were quite a few stressful moments as the characters, in a quest for answers, tried to get into Germany without being noticed, caught, and possibly tortured for information. I truly enjoyed feeling part of an espionage team and feeling the anxiety alongside them. What I most appreciated was that the strong and brilliant female scientist was one of our main POVs and her character was written really well.

The third-person narrative took a little getting used to, but overall it worked well in giving perspectives from the multitude of characters. While the espionage aspect of the story is fictional, many of the stories, locations, and people were inspired from facts. It’s a well researched book that I can see many historical fiction lovers enjoying.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for the print arc and Macmillan Audio for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review An Affair of Spies.

Author: Ronald H. Balson
Published: 09/13/22
Narrator: Fred Berman
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers

A World War II story centered around how close are the Nazi's to developing a working nuclear weapon. Simultaneously a German physicist wants to defect. Balson goes through the recruitment process to check weapon status while writing the scenes for the team to check the legitimacy of the defection. The two groups come together: she and he. Now, there is a third story best stated as will there be love?

Overall, I liked the book. The possible defection and race for nuclear weapon was an interesting tale. The romance was not cheesy, and not overdone.

The three lines moved along seamlessly. Well-written.

My apologies to NetGalley, my notes were soiled with spilled coffee. I do not recall if there was profanity.

I would recommend, it wasn't over the top, it was a 3.5.

An Affair of Spies
By: Ronald H. Balson
Narrated By: Fred Berman
Review Score: 4 Stars

Five Key Feels

-This book was intense from start to finish, a perfect spy novel.

-I loved learning a little bit more about the Ritchie Boys.

-All of the nuclear history of the time was so well written.

-Nathan’s backstory about his family was so sad.

-There were so many twists and turns in this story, I didn’t want it to end.

——

An Affair of Spies was kindly provided as an ARC by Netgalley and Macmillan Audio. Thank you for allowing me to read this wonderful book!

Release Date: Out now!

An Affair of Spies was an amazing thriller about The Manhattan Project, a jewish man who is able to leave Germany before the terror the Nazis imposed, and the need to save important people from falling into the Nazi trap.

This book was intense pretty much from the start, and I honestly could not stop listening. Every time something happened, I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

Nathan and Allison are such well written characters, and I love the way they play off each other.

This was such a good book. I loved the espionage, the character development, the plot twists…just, everything. It was so well done and I highly recommend it.

#bookstagram #books #readingnow #boogiereadsbooks #fivekeyfeels #audiobooks #audiobook #historicalfiction #arcreview #netgalley #macmillanaudio #anaffairofspies #ronaldhbalson #fredberman #worldwar2

This one took me a bit to get into. It was definitely some of the scientific talk, but once Nathan and Dr. Allison Fisher came into the story it got much better.

Following Allison and Nathan on their journey abroad was an exhilarating ride. I just kept imagining how it was for everyone during those dark times and it just boggles my mind how well the author is able to capture them and make them so vivid.

While I was aggravated with Nathan at times, I still enjoyed the spy element to the story.

The narrator, Fred Berman did a wonderful job portraying the characters and accents involved in this story. It was a very enjoyable listen. If it not for the narrator, I may have given up on the story early on.

This book was awesome!! It grabbed me from the beginning and I couldn't stop listening to - EXCEPT when things got a bit "hairy" for them and I was too tense and had to put it down for a bit. The suspense and intrigue were very well written. I love me a good historical fiction, stick it to the Nazi's, romance. And this book provided all of that and with fabulous writing. I am on the hunt for more of this author's books!

I love a good historical fiction book and was so excited to get approved for this one! Unfortunately I did not love it as much as I had hoped. There was a lot of scientific jargon that was sometimes hard to follow. Other parts were very predictable.

I thought this book was EXCELLENT! I received an audio ARC of this novel.

The story: I thought this story was incredibly well written, well paced, and most importantly, well researched. It was so seemingly accurate that I could have been told it was someone's memoir or non-fiction and I would have believed it. I loved how raw Nathan's feelings came across, whether it was sadness, confusion, anger, or love.

Narration: I thought the narrator did a really good job! At first, before knowing Nathan was German, i had a hard time placing his accent, but overall the narrator really lent to the fast pace telling of the story and was full of emotion.

4.5, rounding up.

It's the 1940's and the war with Germany is heating up as there is a race between Germany and the Allies to see who can create the chain reaction needed to create an atom bomb. Cue, Nathan, the German Jewish Immigrant who was the only one of his family to get out of Germany prior to the roundup of people of Jewish heritage and has joined the US Army and moved up the ranks so he can go back to Germany and defeat the Nazi's along with his adopted homeland's soldiers as well as Allison, a gifted scientist with the knowledge of physics needed to evaluate Germany's achievements in the radioactive world. The characters are compelling and likable so that you want to see them succeed. However, there are a few flaws in Nathan's character that put their mission at risk, you'll have to read to find out what they are as I don't do spoilers! The story is extremely well crafted and the research that went into this book had to have been immense. The story is heavily reliant on the science of the Physics realm in technical language, but then explained to Nathan so he can understand which in turn helps the reader understand the gravity of the science. It took a bit to get into the story at the beginning, but am thoroughly glad that I stuck with it as the story unfolded in an informative, entertaining manner that kept me listening for hours. The narrator has a soothing voice that was easy to listen to and made the story quite enjoyable. All in all, I am quite looking forward to more stories from this author.

Super captivating. Loved Nathan and Allison's dynamic. Fred is a hoot, just rolling with the punches. Loved the insight for the science side of WWII. I just really liked it

I think this just wasn't the book for me. If you like historical fiction I think this would be great, WWII, love story, atomic bombs, lost family, spies, scientists.

I love Balson’s work. The research and preparation that goes into these stories is impeccable. Nathan Silverman was able to escape Nazi Germany before things were too bad. He moved to America and joined the US Army. Soon he is known for his skills and is teamed up with Dr. Allison Fischer to go back into Germany to find Dr. Snyder and see the progression Germany has made on attempting to build the atomic bomb. They assume alternate identities and head back into Germany during the heart of the war. I really enjoyed this book although it wasn’t my favorite of his. I found Nathan and Dr. Allison to not be as deep of a character as I would have liked. There was a lot of physics and historical facts that were all very interesting. It was a suspenseful read that kept me engaged. I think this story had potential to be amazing, and while I thought it was good, it wasn’t my favorite of Balson’s.

This was almost a DNF for me but the well-narrated audiobook helped me stick with it! My main struggle is that I found the story too heavy on the nuclear science aspect, and rather integrate these pieces into the story naturally, it felt like factual over load. Despite the science heavy parts, I enjoyed the action, twists and turns and the side romance storyline. If you are a fan of the author’s previous books, or enjoy spy thrillers set during WWII, give this one a try! !