Picking up where Max in the House of Spies left off, 12-year-old Max has parachuted into Nazi Germany as a spy for the British government in 1940. His official mission is to infiltrate the Funkhaus, stronghold of Nazi radio and propaganda. The mission of his heart, forbidden by his Uncle Ewen, who works for British naval intelligence, is to find his parents, whom he left behind in Berlin when he escaped on the Jewish Kindertransport. The official plan works better than Max could have hoped. Befriending lonely Freddie, the son of popular radio personality Hans Fritzsche, proves easy, and it isn’t long before Max’s genius has impressed Fritzsche and Nazi leaders at the Funkhaus. Max’s determination to find his parents gets assistance from a surprising source, but what he discovers is devastating—the most disheartening of the many upsetting things he witnesses and learns. The Nazis are brutal, but the capitulation of the German people to that brutality is unsettling, while Britain’s own global history, as the Nazis point out, is far from unblemished. Max’s unexpected, genuine friendship with Freddie is a bright, tender spot, but Max must battle his own fear at almost every turn and acknowledge the uncomfortable truth of his own ability to lash out in violence. The presence of Stein and Berg, the dybbuk and kobold, respectively, that sit on Max’s shoulders, takes an unexpected turn in a tense tale that builds to a dangerous escape and final revelations.

Instant New York Times bestseller! USA Today bestseller!

“A heartrending masterpiece of middle-grade historical fiction.″ –Booklist, starred review

“The whip-smart combination of intrigue and adventure along with thought-provoking reflection makes for a nail-biting, laugh-out loud, stop-and-think read.” –School Library Journal, starred review

“A headlong thriller laced with provocative and topical historical truths.” –Kirkus, starred review

Max Bretzfeld is back in Berlin where his most dangerous mission is about to begin! The thrilling conclusion to the World War II spy duology that began with Max in the House of Spies.

Max is on a mission.
Well, two missions.

One has been assigned by his British spymasters: Infiltrate the Funkhaus, the center of Nazi radio and propaganda.

The other they have forbidden: Find his parents.

Max Bretzfeld was willing to do anything to return to Germany, even become a British spy. Training complete and forged papers in hand, the radio wunderkind’s missions have begun. But nothing is as he expected. His parents are missing. Nazi intelligence is watching him. And the lines between lies and truth are becoming more blurred every day. Max will need every tool at his disposal, from his radio expertise and spy training to the help of Berg and Stein, the immortal creatures living on his shoulders. Even so, there’s no guarantee he’ll make it out of Berlin alive.