An Affair of Spies: The Book Stall Welcomes Ronald H. Balson

Join us at The Book Stall (811 Elm Street in Winnetka) on Wednesday, September 21 at 6:30 pm for an evening featuring renowned historical fiction author Ronald H. Balson.  The 2018 National Jewish Book Award winner and best-selling author returns with An Affair of Spies, a thrilling tale of a spy mission to rescue a German defector and prevent the Nazi’s from creating an atomic bomb. It is an action-packed tale of heroism and love in the face of unspeakable evil. Ronald H. Balson has applied his unmatched talent for evocative and painstakingly authentic storytelling to the high-stakes world of espionage and created his most thrilling novel yet. This event is free and open to the public.

More About An Affair of Spies: Nathan Silverman grows up in Berlin in the 1920s, the son of a homemaker and a theoretical physicist. After his uncle is arrested in Kristallnacht, he leaves Germany for New York City with only his mother’s ring to sell for survival. Three years later, while attending an evening course at Columbia, Nathan notices a recruitment poster on a university wall and decides to enlist in the military and help fight the Nazi regime. To his surprise, he is quickly selected for a special assignment where he is trained as a spy, and ordered to report to the Manhattan Project. There he learns that the Allies are racing to develop a nuclear weapon before the Nazis, and a German theoretical physicist is hoping to defect. The physicist was a friend of his father's, and Nathan's mission is to return to Berlin via France and smuggle him out of Europe.

Nathan will be accompanied by Dr. Allison Fisher, a brilliant young scientist who can speak French. He first travels to her lab at the University of Chicago for a crash course in nuclear physics, and from there, they embark on their adventure. Nathan and Allison soon develop feelings for one another, but as their relationship deepens, they move ever closer to their dangerous goal. Will they be able to escape Europe with the defector and start a new life together, or will they fail their mission and become two more casualties of war?
 
More About The Author: Ronald H. Balson is an attorney, professor, and writer. His novel The Girl From Berlin won the National Jewish Book Award and was the Illinois Reading Council's adult fiction selection for their Illinois Reads program. He is also the author of Defending Britta Stein, Eli’s Promise, Karolina's Twins, The Trust, Saving Sophie, and the international bestseller Once We Were Brothers. He has appeared on many television and radio programs and has lectured nationally and internationally on his writing. He lives in Chicago.